Star Wars: The Final War
by AshieCha
Summary: Warning: Last Jedi spoilers. This is a direct continuation from The Last Jedi. Snoke is gone but Rey and Ben's bond remains as strong as ever. Despite being enemies, they find themselves taking comfort in each other presence and growing closer. Rey begins to wonder if it's possible after all. Can she save Ben Solo from himself?
1. Chapter 1

The Millenium Falcon was not meant to house that many people. Only thirty-four people had survived the battle with the First Order, and while that number wasn't high compared to the original population of the Resistance, it meant that the only remaining ship in their possession had become a very crowded place.

The only real solitude from the crowd was the in cockpit. Rey had escaped there soon after her wounds were tended to by the remaining medical staff. There she sat in Han Solo's chair, piloting the ship with Chewbacca at her side as they cruised through lightspeed. They had no real destination in mind. General Organa was in the midst of deciding the location of their new home. For now they were just focused on getting as far from the First Order as they could.

Poe Dameron entered a few hours into their escape, sporting a few bandages himself now. "Hoth." He announced as he took a seat in one of the passenger seats. "That's what she decided on. There's an old resistance base there that they had to abandon during the war against the Empire. It will need some repairs but she doubts they will suspect us going there."

Rey nodded quietly and brought them out of lightspeed to adjust their course. Chewie seemed to know exactly where Hoth was, so he set the course and brought them back to lightspeed once it was ready. Rey sighed and leaned back in her chair. Adrenaline had kept her going before, but she had expended a lot of energy during that fight on Snoke's ship and it was all starting to come crashing down on her.

"You should sleep, Rey." Her exhaustion was not lost on anyone. "Our only Jedi should be at the top of her game."

"I'm not a Jedi." Another reason she had come to the cockpit was the whispers. People calling her Jedi under their breath to each other in hopeful voices. They were placing a lot of hope on someone who had no idea what she was doing.

"Leia disagrees. Luke is gone. That leaves us with you." Poe gave his retort by reaching forward to place his hand on her shoulder. "She said that when he was facing down Kylo Ren, she heard him say that he wasn't the Last Jedi. You were."

Rey gave a defeated chuckle and shook her head. "She's placing a lot of hope on someone who is barely trained."

"Not hope." Poe answered her with a smile. "She's lost her son, husband and now her brother. Leia doesn't have any hope left. It's faith she has. Faith she is choosing to place in you."

"I'm not so sure I can deliver." Rey turned in her seat to look at him, trusting the ship to Chewie. "I failed to save Kylo."

General Organa herself appeared before Poe could answer, smiling understandingly at Rey. "You helped him save himself from Snoke. That proves a lot to me."

Rey sighed and shook her head. None of them were understanding. The look in Leia's eyes soothed her worry a little, but there was still that underlying concern. Her, a Jedi? And their only hope? That was a lot of pressure. "I'm not trained. I was only able to move those rocks because I knew I had to save you all. When it comes down to it I might be useless."

Leia's expression didn't change. "Luke taught you all he could. The rest is up to you now. It will be a journey you have to take yourself. Not something someone can teach you. Truthfully it is easier with a master to guide you, but there are plenty who did it without. Luke included."

Rey had no response to that, besides another pessimistic phrase which she knew Leia would only shoot down.

Leia spoke again before anyone could say anything anyway. "Poe is right. You should rest, Rey. If Chewbacca will allow it, Poe can help him pilot while you sleep."

Chewbacca spoke his agreement and Rey sighed as she stood, watching Poe's face light up. "The Millennium Falcon. I've always dreamed of piloting this." He said excitedly as Leia led Rey from the room.

"How is Rose?" Rey only said this to break the silence. She wasn't overly concerned for the girl, having never met her, but Finn had seemed very concerned for her. After ensuring Rey was alright, he had hardly left her side.

Leia's smile widened. "Oh she's quite alright. Injured but healing. And she won't wake up alone. Finn appears glued to her side."

The ship wasn't very large, so Leia stopped just down the hall next to a door. "It's not ideal. Just a maintenance access room. But most of us will have to sleep in common areas and I thought it best for you to have solitude. You can train in here without issue." She pressed a button and the door slid open.

It wasn't very large inside. No room to train with a saber. Not that she had one anymore. Leia must have meant meditation. Training your mind and focus. Rey stepped inside. Someone had already placed some blankets and pillows inside for her.

"Get some rest, Rey. I'm not sure how long it will take us to get there, but it should be enough time for a good sleep." She smiled again and the door slid shut, separating the two and leaving Rey alone to her thoughts.

And think she did. Rey wasn't sure how long she spent simply thinking. She couldn't sleep. Not with her mind running a million miles an hour. At least in the pilots seat she had been able to distract herself.

The Last Jedi. On Ach-To, Master Luke had spent so much time trying to convince her to Jedi order needed to end, and yet he had named her the Last Jedi. It should have died with him but he made it live on with her. Did that mean he had changed his mind? That he had really meant his time was up, but the Jedi religion should continue? Or maybe, all he meant was it should stay long enough to stop Kylo. Or rather, save him. It was all very confusing.

Rey groaned and rubbed her face. It would have been easier if he had been able to tell her exactly what he meant. But then, she supposed, maybe figuring it out was what she had to do to truly become a Jedi.

She sighed and sat up from where she'd been leaning on the wall. If she was to sleep, she would have to calm down her mind. Luke had often meditated before retiring for the night. Perhaps that's what he had been doing?

He'd only attempted to teach it to her once, so she wasn't entirely sure what to do, but she pulled forth a memory of watching him, and tried to mimic him. She crossed her legs and closed her eyes, and tried her best to focus on the force, moving all around her.

"You're supposed to breathe."

The familiar voice made her furrowed her brows and Rey opened her eyes to see Ben Solo sitting across from her, his legs also crossed. Not Kylo Ren. He looked far too vulnerable for that.

"How do you expect to relax when you're holding your breath?"

Rey hadn't even realized she was. She let out the breath slowly and sighed. "What are you doing here?"

Ben shrugged uncertainty. "I have no idea. One minute I'm alone and the next you're sitting in front of me making a poor attempt at meditation."

She narrowed her eyes at him in response to the insult. "Snoke said he created the bond between us to lure me in. If he's dead, then why is the bond still there?"

"The Force works in strange ways. Maybe he was just taking credit for it." Ben ran a hand down his face. He looked exhausted. "Rey. I'm… sorry. I know you thought you could save me. I betrayed you."

Her eyes widened at his confession. He had run straight back to the First Order after her rejection. It surprised her that he felt like he betrayed her. "You saved my life. Snoke would have killed me himself if you didn't."

"I still stand by what I said. None of this will survive this war. I just… wish you had said yes."

"My friends were dying."

"I know."

They both lapsed into an awkward silence, another minute for passing before she broke it. "So what now then? We fought together. Is that it? We go back to being enemies now?"

Ben tilted his head down and closed his eyes, his hair hanging to shield his face. "I hope not."

"Well we can be as friendly as we want when we're like this." Rey narrowed her eyes uncertainly. "But when we're face to face again, what's going to happen? We're fighting on opposite sides of a war."

He didn't look like he had the answer to that question and another awkward silence fell around them.

This time, Ben broke it. "In through your nose. Out through your mouth. I imagine your past as a scavenger had taught you to always be aware of your surroundings but you need to let that go. That's not who you are anymore. Let yourself be taken away by the force, and trust it. It will tell you if you're in danger."

Rey couldn't help the smile that broke her face. "Are you training me right now, Kylo Ren?"

He looked up and met her eyes with a smile of his own. "Well someone has to."

She gave a soft chuckle and did as he said, shutting her eyes and relaxing her muscles. She breathed and listened to the force and soon, she was swept away. At first they flowed through the force together, but somewhere along the line, Ben left her. She barely even noticed.

By the time she opened her eyes again, Ben was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

"Rey."

The voice sounded distant and muffled. It sounded like her name but she couldn't tell who was saying it. Was it Ben? Did he come back?

"Rey come on. We're here."

The sounds of the real world came flooding back to her and she scrunched her face up. The whirring of the machines besides her. The footsteps of other passengers. Rey sat up and opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them and taking a moment to reorient herself. Right. She was on the Millenium Falcon.

"I must have fallen asleep." She mumbled, glancing up when she noticed the door was open and seeing Poe grinning down at her.

"Good." He said, and held out a hand to help her up which she took at once. "We've landed already. Come on." Poe waved her out of the room and through the halls to the loading ramp. Some people were sitting down just beside it, keeping warm from the chill that swept in. Poe grabbed a jacket from a nearby chair and held it to her. "Here. You'll need this. We couldn't get the hangar door open, so the ship is still outside." He continued talking as she threw the jacket on and followed him down the ramp into the snow. "Our plan is to enter through the maintenance door. Those of us with mechanical knowledge, meaning me, you and Chewie, will try to get the door open while the rest work on clearing some debris. General Organa says the Empire basically brought the place down on their heads."

Rey nodded understandingly. "So we've got our work cut out for us, is what you're saying."

"Essentially." Poe responded with a grin.

"Poe!" That was Finn's voice. It was blizzarding out, so at first her only indication as to where Finn was was the direction his voice came from. But after walking a few feet his figure came into view, among a few others. "The door is frozen shut!" Someone behind him was trying to kick it in. "We can't get it open."

"It's been abandoned for decades." Leia sighed from within the layers she'd placed on to shield herself from the cold. "That doesn't surprise me. Rey. I know you're still learning, but perhaps you could open it?"

Rey's first instinct was to say no, but the look on everyone's faces made her sigh and step forward. Even through the snow it was easy to tell it was sunset. If the desert on Jakku got cold at night, she could only imagine what it was like here.

"You move a couple of rocks and suddenly everyone thinks you can do anything." She muttered to herself as she stepped towards the very frozen door and lifted her hands.

'Let yourself be taken away by the force, and trust it.'

Ben's words echoed through her head. Whether by her memory or their bond, she wasn't sure. Rey closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to stop thinking. Just do it. No trying. Just do.

Someone said something but she couldn't understand what it was. Ben had been able to command the force while still aware of the world around him. She supposed that would come with practice.

Something gave, and Rey opened her eyes with a gasp, suddenly realizing she hadn't been breathing again. The ice around the door was cracked and it was slightly ajar, but not open.

"You did it!" Poe exclaimed happily and jumped forward, far more excited about her accomplishment than her. "We should be able to get it now. Come on Finn. Help me pull this thing open."

Together, the boys held the handle and dug their heels into the snow, pulling on the door with all of their combined weight. The door squeaked and creaked and finally, opened at once. Both Poe and Finn fell back into the snow.

"Good job, Rey." Leia patted her shoulder with a proud smiled and stepped past her to enter the base. The rest followed her inside, including Finn and Poe who had to brush all the snow off themselves.

The hangar was slightly caved in as well. Even if they got the door to open, there wouldn't be enough room for the Falcon, so Rey, Chewie and Poe set to work figuring out the issue while the rest worked on moving the debris.

Poe had been right. The door was damaged. It seemed a piece of debris had smashed a small part of it. The easiest route would be to replace it, but the machinery was so old, they had no spare. At least one was accessible, as most of the base was cut off. It took them all day to reshape it, using both hammers, various other tools and even the force in some parts. By the time they tested the door to see if it opened, the others had cleared enough space for Chewie to fly the Falcon in out of the snow.

With the ship safely inside, all that was left was to spend the next week or so clearing the rest of the debris and then, repairs.

Rey sometimes wondered what Ben was doing during that time. The First Order had yet to appear. Were they looking for the Resistance? Or were they taking time to recoup, like they were? Or was Ben holding them off? Reorienting himself in his new role? Rey was only guessing he had taken command. With Snoke gone and Ben's temper, there was no way that General Hux or whatever his name was had taken command. Was Ben calling himself the new Supreme Leader?

"Hey Rey." Poe grinned at her from across the control room, where they, along with Rose who was now up and about, were trying to repair the consoles. The mood around the base was sour and solemn, so the pilot had taken it upon himself to tease and joke and try to make everyone a little happier. "You're out of your element here, aren't you? So used to taking things apart, rather than putting them together."

Rey smirked back at him. "That's true, but the thing with taking things apart all the time." She twisted a wire together and grinned as her console roared to life. "It teaches you a lot about how it all goes together."

A second later, Chewbacca's came to life as well, and Rose's followed not long after. Poe stared around the room as the three of them moved onto the next one while he was still working on his first. "Oh sure! I see. You all think you're better than me. Alright." He grumbled before dipping back down under his console to finish repairs.

Rey felt Ben appear while she ripped the panel off her second console, and sighed, looking over to see him standing with her back to him. He glanced behind him as well, but didn't say anything to her. Instead turning to speak to someone she couldn't see.

"Well pick up the pace then. We need more ships."

She watched his face contort into a frown. "I don't care if you're low on men. Get to it." He turned to face her, but didn't meet her eyes besides a small glance.

Of course. Snoke's ship had been destroyed by the Vice Admiral. That's what Leia had said. That was their main vessel. So they must be low on ships. Which meant the First Order was in rough shape after all.

Ben seemed so collected in his words, but Rey recognized the look in his eyes. Uncertainty.

"Rey." Poe's voice called her back to the real world and he raised an eyebrow at her. "You alright? You're spacing out."

Rey smiled and nodded. "Yeah I'm fine. Let's finish this and go eat."

Ben's eyes finally flickered over to her. Neither of them could say anything, or else everyone they were surrounded by would know, but she swore she saw something other than uncertainty in his face. What was it, longing?

 _Author's note: Wow I did not expect comments that quickly. Thank you! This is my first fanfic in a while so I hope I dont disappoint._

 _Rey is being a little grumpy and moody right now because she's feeling a bit hopeless. I'll try to make it not so angsty all the time. But as we know, Ben is an angsty boy so we'll see how this goes. :P_


	3. Chapter 3

Time passed quickly on Hoth. With the base reasonably prepared, they had begun making trips outside to place sentries in the hopes of being aware of intruders, as well as learning about any changes in the wildlife since General Organa had been there last.

Rey went out on one of these trips, but being more accustomed to the hot sands of Jakku, she didn't do well in the cold. So she was confined to the base until there was reason to send her offworld, continuing repairs and helping make the base livable.

She continued to see Ben, but only when inconvenient. They were unable to have any conversations, but Rey was perfectly fine with that. As confusing as their relationship was, she wouldn't know what to say to him. Still, she found his presence almost… comforting.

The routine remained the same for the first few weeks they were there, until Leia pulled Rey aside and led her down one of the frozen halls.

"I've been looking for this place since we got here." She explained, a very excited glint in her eyes. "You know we've found numerous hangars in here with broken ships that we hope to repair, but I swore I remembered a hangar that was empty at the time of the attack. You need somewhere to train, Rey. Practice your control of the force. Of course you have no saber currently to use, but you can still practice combat." She paused by a large door and smiled at Rey, who for the first time in a while, was sharing in the excitement. She did need to practice. Leia had told her she would need to teach herself, but there had hardly been time or room for that matter.

The door slid open and the room beyond was massive. Round and made of ice like the rest of the base. Unlike most of the hangars it was relatively intact. A few ice chunks littered the floor and it appeared they had moved some objects in for her to use. Poe and Finn were inside swinging bars at each other in an attempt to hit one another.

Leia stepped inside and motioned for Rey to follow. "Poe and Finn have agreed to help you train."

The boys stopped at the sound of their names and as usual, Poe was grinning at her. "We'll be your training dummies!" He exclaimed happily, brandishing his bar at her and pouncing from one foot to the other.

"Agreed? More like forced." Finn smiled and stepped forward. "I wanted no part of this. Poe I don't think you understand. Rey is very scary with that staff. I would know. She'd already beaten me up with it."

Rey smiled menacingly at him and pulled her staff out, watching Finn flinch.

"This will be your haven, Rey. The only ones allowed in here will be the ones you decide on." Leia gave her an amused smile. "You can kick them out if they're misbehaving."

"I think physical punishment may help them learn better." Her haven. That sounded nice to Rey. Somewhere private where she could focus on how she was going to save the kriffing galaxy. And an excuse to smack Poe upside the head.

Poe and Finn's expressions mimicked each other. Fear. She must have that look in her eyes again. The one Finn had seen when they first met.

Leia chuckled. "I am no Jedi, Rey, but I do know the force. I cannot train you, but if you ever have questions, please come to me. I will help you as best I can." With that said, The General turned and left the room, the door sliding shut behind her as she left them to train.

And oh did they train, if it could be called that. Three young adults reliving the childhoods they never had by whacking each other with sticks. It felt like they were actually friends, instead of just allies.

Of course Rey got the best of them. Though both Poe and Finn were excellent with blasters, neither of them could match her skill with melee. So by the time they surrendered and the three of them hobbled out of the room, the boys sported more than a few bruises and Rey only appeared tired if anything. However, all three of them had wide grins on their face.

Rey would have to start her real training soon, but it felt good to just… have fun. For the first time she could remember.

She found herself back in her quarters later that evening, after dinner. Rey took her hair down and brushed through the strands as she prepared for bed, thinking she might have a go with the refresher before retiring for the night. She'd never had consistent access to anything that could clean her, so Rey used it almost everyday now and enjoyed how it felt to be clean.

When she had been given the room after its repairs were done, Rey had placed Luke's broken lightsaber on a table near the door to the refresher. Everytime she passed it, her eyes narrowed and she would spend a minute trying to think of a way to repair it before getting frustrated and moving on. She had thought about asking Leia how to repair it, but like Leia had said, she was no Jedi. Her knowledge of sabers was probably minimal.

Today she stopped by it again, but this time she picked it up to glare at it.

'Not that you have one anyway.' She kept hearing those words from different people, herself included.

No lightsaber. How could she be a Jedi with no lightsaber?

A whoosh of air and a new presence interrupted her thought process and Rey turned, almost groaning at the sight of Ben Solo, shirtless once again.

"Must you always be half naked?"

Ben turned to raise an eyebrow at her. "I'm in my quarters. What do you want from me?"

Rey huffed and turned her back to him again, entirely ready to simply sulk until the connection wore off and he disappeared.

Until a thought hit her. Ben had a lightsaber that was unlike any she'd heard of. Which meant maybe he had been the one to make it? He might be the only person who knew how to repair Luke's.

"I heard that force users typically make their own lightsabers. Is that true?"

Though she kept her back to him, Rey could feel Ben looking at her. "Yes it is."

"Did you make yours?"

"Yes. Why?"

Rey sighed and turned, presenting the broken saber to him. "Then would you know how to fix this?"

Ben had a look of disbelief on his face. "Are you actually asking me."

"Yes. I don't like it. Asking my enemy how to repair the weapon I'll probably use to fight him again. But I don't exactly have many options here." She narrowed her eyes and took a step towards him. She was fully aware that thud Ben was only a force created image of the real thing, but they had touched hands once before like this. She wondered if that had simply been a fluke, or if he would be able to hold or even fix something she handed to him. If he even would.

He didn't reach out for it, simply stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "The kyber is damaged. You can't repair that. Not without a new one. And at that rate you might as well just make an entirely new lightsaber for yourself."

Rey pursed her lips. She had hoped she wouldn't have to make one, since she had Luke's. "Where would I find kyber?"

"I got mine from the sabers of dead sith lords." Ben shrugged and turned away from her partially. "Snoke gave me access and told me to pick. You, of course don't have that. The easiest place would be Ilum. There used to be a large supply there before the empire essentially destroyed the surface. But there might be a few they missed."

All of her instincts were ringing like alarms. He seemed to he telling the truth, but how could she really trust him? "Are you laying a trap for me?"

"Probably." Ben turned his gaze to her again. "Haven't made up my mind yet. Go and ask my mo… your General for her opinion. She might know of other places you could find Kyber."

Rey glared at him for another second, before turning and leaving the room. She felt Ben fade away as she left. Apparently he could only stay where he materialized. That was lucky, because she was going to talk to his mother.

The General had a room on the far side of the base, larger than hers but not by much. She was already changed into more comfortable clothing for bed, but greeted Rey with a kind smile as always, patting the bench beside her.

Rey took a shaky breath and sat down, placing the lightsaber on the table before them. "Do you know anything about repairing lightsabers?"

Leia pressed her lips together and reached forward for one of the pieces of inspect. "I'm afraid not. But Luke did tell me the kyber crystals are the heart of it. This one is damaged. It probably can't be repaired."

Well Ben had been telling the truth about that. "Then I need to find more kyber. To make my own, right?" Leia nodded. "Do you know where I can find some?"

The General seemed to think for a moment. "There are only a few that I was told about. All destroyed by the Empire after the purge. Most of them were small depositories. Easily destroyed, but if I remember correctly, the planet of Ilum was practically covered in kyber. Again, the surface was destroyed by the Empire, but if there was anywhere they might have missed some, it's there."

Now Rey had to think. Everything Leia had just told her was the same as what Ben had told her. It seemed Ilum was her best chance, but he knew that's where she would be going. It was undoubtedly a trap. "Then do I have your permission to take the Falcon and go to Ilum?"

Leia smiled and nodded, but there was uncertainty in her eyes. "How many people will you need?"

"Just Chewbacca. I will search by myself while he orbits the planet and then call him down when I'm done." The fewer people that came, the less losses there would be. Not to mention if she was alone, she could really use her speed to her advantage.

Still Leia looked uncertain, but she trusted Rey, and so she nodded. "Very well then. Get some rest before you go through. You can leave after breakfast tomorrow."

 _Authors Note: I am amazed by how much support I am getting for this. Thank You so much! There have been a few questions in the comments since the last chapter which I want to address but first I want to say this._

 _I am a writer at heart. I like writing original stories but I've had trouble channeling my creativity lately. So I am using my love of Star Wars to help myself get back into writing. That being said, I am writing this for myself, but I still want other people to enjoy it which is why I am putting it up here._

 _Someone asked if I will be including anything from Kylo's POV, and the answer is maybe? I generally find it more immersive to stay in the mind of one character, but Kylo is so conflicted right now, it may end up being necessary for the story. They also asked if I will be extending the world or just focusing on relationships. I will not be adding many things to the world of my own creation. I will hopefully introduce some things that I have not seen in the movies, but that are already canon in the lore, such as Ilum. The main focus will be mostly relationships._

 _Looking forward to the next chapter! And thank you!_

 _-Ash_


	4. Chapter 4

"Leia told me about a sith lord who had a double ended lightsaber. That he used it the same way I use my staff, just with a smaller grip." Rey told Chewbacca as she swung her staff around in the common room. They had left Hoth a few hours ago, flying on autopilot at lightspeed towards Ilum. "She said that if he wanted, he could separate the two halves and use them as individual lightsabers or dual wield." Rey swung it hard at the chess table the Wookie sat by, stopping just above the surface and grinning. "If I want to do that, I'm going to need two kyber crystals. One for each side so that they can work independently."

A beeping noise grabbed Chewbacca's attention before he could respond and he stood, headed towards the cockpit with Rey following. The beeping was to let them know it was time to hop out of lightspeed. The two of them sat down and started pressing buttons.

"Trouble is…" Rey paused as they left lightspeed and the full view of Ilum appeared. She leaned forward out of her seat. "How in the galaxy am I going to find any kyber on that?"

Leia and Ben had been right about Ilum. It was completely destroyed. When Chewie brought them down to the surface, it was easy to see that maybe once there had been buildings and mountains, but they had all been destroyed and buried in the snow long ago. There were giant holes in the planet where the Empire had mined all of the kyber and if there had ever been wildlife, it was long gone. All that was left was a barren, white rock floating in the void.

"Keep the engines running." Rey told Chewbacca as she stepped out into the snow, already wrinkling her nose at it. She didn't like snow. "I don't know how long it will take me, but I will let you know when I'm ready to leave." She turned and gave Chewbacca a nod, who wished her luck and went back into the ship.

Rey heard the ship roar to life and take off as she stared out at the wasteland. "Now where to start?" An entire planet to search. This could take a while.

There was a large hole to the east, so Rey started that way, thinking that perhaps she could use that to access caves that might lead her deeper underground. If they had missed any kyber, it would probably be the stuff closer to the planet's core.

The hole was massive. It stretched beyond the horizon and Rey could hardly believe her eyes. It was as if an enormous creature had taken a bite out of the planet. From where she stood at the edge, she could see several cave entrances at the bottom of the pit, and had to carefully make her way down.

There were a few pieces of mining machinery abandoned by the Empire, which Rey stopped by to salvage parts from, shoving them in the bag she'd brought. Some she believed the Resistance could use to repair the numerous broken ships they had. Some she thought she may be able to use in her lightsaber. She planned the repurpose many parts in Luke's broken saber, but there were a few parts that would need replacing, and since she planned on making two, she would need more anyway.

They said that kyber was a physical manifestation of the force. Knowing that, Rey theorized that once she got close yo one, she'd be able to feel it. She wondered what this planet had felt like before the Empire had gotten to it. It must have been humming with energy.

She yanked the last piece of usable material from a machine and stood, brushing her hair out of her face and looking out at the hole. The closest cave to her had to be less than fifty feet away. "Guess I'll start there." She muttered and pulled out a small disc that showed a holographic map of the planet when activated. It was old. Using mountains and rivers as landmarks and since they were all gone, it was nearly useless. But she reckoned if she kept track of where she had landed and how far she'd gone, she could figure out where she hadn't looked yet.

Rey walked to the edge of the cave, stretching straight down into the heart of the planet, and placed a pin on her map, then jumped in.

The inside was not what she had imagined. But that wasn't entirely surprising. As rational as she was, the second Rey had heard that this used to be a massive kyber mine, her imagination had gone straight to caved glowing with force energy. Of course that was stupid. She knew full well it wasn't like that.

Still, Rey had hoped it might be a little easier than this. She hadn't expected to walk the caves with nothing but a torch for light for who knows how many hours.

Rey walked until she couldn't anymore and sat down for a small break. Have some water. She wasn't planning on having a nap, but she must have been down there long enough to start nodding off. "Oh go to Ilum, he said." She muttered to herself. "It'll be fun."

Chewbacca's voice came through the communicator, saying something about a trap that she didn't quite catch.

"Oh it is most definitely a trap, Chewie." She sighed, about to sag into the rock before a feeling made her sit bolt upright, looking around for the source. Of course she wouldn't find it. It was still outside of the cave.

"Kylo Ren."

It was another minute before she heard a response.

'Rey.'

Rey stood up and snatched her bag and staff from where she'd placed them on the ground, running further into the cave and underground.

She had a head start and would need to keep it if she wanted to find crystals before she found her. "Kriffing bastard. I knew he set this up." Rey cursed to herself. If she could keep tabs on his locations then she could keep tabs on him. He was already in the same cave system as her.

Rey's days as a scavenger came into play. She ran quickly over the rough terrain and jumped any obstacles easily. She kept her mind trained on the force to both watch Ben and to keep an eye out for crystals.

'Rey don't run from me. You know where you belong.'

"Kriff off." Rey swore, jumping over a large rock as something sparked in the force beneath her. Only she didn't land. The floor broke apart beneath her and Rey fell, screaming, until she landed painful at the bottom of a pit, the world swimming before her.

By the time she regained consciousness, Ben was too close for comfort. But there was that spark again. Now just to her right. While Rey tried to get herself up, she tilted her head in that direction and there it was. Shining, white and swirling with the force.

A kyber crystal.

Small, but enough. Rey had to shuffle over to grab it, yanking hard to pull it from the wall. The moment she did, it turned a brilliant amethyst purple. She stared at it for a second before Ben's voice rang out through the cave.

"Rey!"

Rey pulled the communicator from her belt and held it close to Chewbacca could hear her whisper. "Chewie do they have ships?"

There were. Far more than the Resistance had.

"Right. Get ready to come down to the surface. Don't land, I'll jump on. Keep an eye on my location and wait until I'm on the surface. Don't let those fighters hit you."

She heard him speak his agreement, then looked up to where she had fallen from. Couldn't be more than ten feet. Easily climbable in a few seconds. The issue was getting past Ben.

Still, Rey didn't have a chance to think. He was getting closer for every second she hesitated. Rey slipped the crystal into the bag and stood, ignoring the nausea in her head as she grabbed a hold of the wall and started to climb.

Just as she thought, within a few seconds, Rey was out of the hole shed fallen into, and Kylo Ren was waiting for her.

There was no conversation. No second of staring sadly at one another. Rey's instincts kicked into high gear and she bolted down the cave and around a corner. She knew that he was right on her tail. Heard his lightsaber spark to life. Somehow she would have to lose him. But how could she when he could track her location?

'Lose yourself in the force and trust it.'

Rey couldn't. She couldn't shake him. There was only one way out of this and if it was anyone other than him, it was a way that she doubted would work.

She stopped in a decently sized cavern, with boulders and crevices. Plenty of places to hide. She chose a pillar and leaned against it to wait for him.

Ben stopped in the cavern to. Rey had placed some barriers around her mind, but she knew she couldn't keep him out entirely. He would know that she was in here, just not exactly where.

"Rey."

"Don't do this." She interrupted him before he could say anything else, trying to catch her breath at the same time. "Ben, don't do this."

"Don't call me that."

Rey frowned. He was still doing that. Like a rebellious teenager. Changing his name to upset his parents. "That's your name."

"No it's not." His voice was sharp. He was upset.

She raised her voice. "Yes it is!"

No answer this time. How could she do it? How could she make him see?

"You want to be like your grandfather. Like Darth Vader." Rey sucked in a deep breath, clutching her staff to her chest. "Have you forgotten how his story ended?"

Again, Ben didn't answer. Though Rey had herself guarded, he left himself wide open and she could feel what she always felt with him. Uncertainty.

"He was a good man. A Jedi. Soon to be a master. He was seduced by the dark side, like you. Brought in with the promise of power. But in the end…" Rey had to pause to give a breathy laugh. "In the end he gave it up. He abandoned the dark side in order to save his family. In order to save Luke. If you want to be like him, then that's your destiny as well. Come home, Ben. Your mother misses you."

There was a paused and Rey peaked around her pillar to see him glaring at the floor, until he finally spoke. "How can I? How can I face her after what I did? After killing my own father?"

Again, Rey let out a small laugh. So that was it. He was torn up about Han. "Han Solo knew he was going to die. He would have put up more of a fight, but he walked straight up to you knowing you would kill him."

Ben's voice sounded like it broke. "Why?"

This time Rey hesitated, struggling with words like he was. She made her decision quickly though, pushing off the pillar and rounding it to meet his eyes. They looked wet. "Why? Because he loved you, Ben. Because he was watching the darkness tear you apart and he knew that as long as he was alive, the hatred Snoke had placed in your heart would continue to hurt you."

Ben's eyes were dark and hard but he stared at her almost sadly. "How do you know this?"

Rey could feel her eyes welling up as well. "Because I can see him. You're thinking about him right now and I can see him through your eyes. The look on his face tells me everything I need to know."

Another silence fell over them, interrupted after a minute by the sounds of footsteps approaching. Stormtroopers.

"Be like Darth Vader, Ben. Abandon the darkside. Come home."

He stared at her for what seemed like an eternity before shaking his head. "I can't."

Rey pressed her lips into a thin line. He was not going to make this easy. "Then let me go. I won't turn so your only other option is to kill me and the last time that was an option, you murdered your master instead. So let me go."

Ben didn't answer, so Rey assumed. She took a quick glance around the room, saw a large exit behind her and a small crevice to the side. Small but big enough for someone of her size to squeeze through.

Rey heard Ben barking orders distantly as she found her way back up to the surface.

"She disappeared. Find her!"

Chewie had been right. Rey saw plenty of fighters once she reached the surface, but thankfully also the Falcon, dipping down with its loading ramp lowered. Chewie was going just slow enough for her to catch up and jump onto the ramp before he sped up again, closing the ramp and bringing them back into space. Finally, after who knew how long, homebound.


	5. Chapter 5

"So let me get this straight." Finn was pacing around the room, not surprisingly unhappy after hearing Rey's report. "You knew full well it was a trap, and yet you still went to Ilum? Are you insane, Rey? You could have gotten killed."

Rey on the other hand, was unhappy that he was angry at her. "I need kyber."

"So send one of us to get it! You're too important, Rey! You can't just risk yourself like that!"

Rey stood to meet his eyes. "That place has been stripped free of kyber. How would have of you be able to find whatever was left? The only one who could is General Organa. Would you have sent her?"

There was a moment of silence as they glared at each other before Poe spoke up. As there were hardly any Resistance left, he had been promoted to Leia's second in command. "So did you? Find any, I mean?"

Rey shifted her gaze to him and sat down, nodding as she reached into the bag to pull out the small, purple crystal and place it on the table.

"Purple." Leia gazed at it with fascination in her eyes. "Now that's a colour I've never seen in a lightsaber. But you wanted to make a double ended one, didn't you? You would need two."

Rey exhaled and nodded. "Yeah I had hoped to find two. But this was all I got before they chased me off. I thought of alternative though." Reaching back down into her bag, Rey pulled out the two halves of Luke's saber, and placed them next to her crystal. "Luke's lightsaber is damaged. I can't repair it. But maybe I can salvage what's left of the crystal. If you think about it, it is just another rock that grew right? Which means it can be cut and reshaped. Maybe just not through traditional means."

Leia nodded her approval. "Seems like a sound theory to me."

Finn did not seem as convinced. "What would you shape it with then?"

"It's a force crystal." Rey shrugged and picked up the largest side, which presumably had the most crystal in it. Picking up a small tool beside her, she started to pry it open. "Theoretically, I should be able to shape it using the force."

He sighed and muttered under his breath. "Assuming you can."

Rey's eyes snapped up to him. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"I just mean…" Finn looked like he was already regretting his words, and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"What? You just mean what? You think I can't use the force? You saw me move those rocks on Crait." Her eyes narrowed at him, already feeling the anger bubble in her.

Finn was avoiding her eyes. "Well yes, but you haven't had much luck since then. The most you've been able to move was that door."

"Do you think this is easy, Finn? Learning without a Master? I'm doing the best I can!" She stood again, and watched both Leia and Poe share a glance. "You tell me all this stuff about how important I am and how I'm the Resistance's last hope but how am I meant to believe I can do it when my best friend doesn't!?" Leia placed a hand on her shoulder. Rey hadn't realized it, but there were items in the room that were floating, carried upwards by her emotions.

Finn frowned at her. "I'm sorry, Rey. I'm just worried. Kylo Ren could have easily taken you on Ilum. I do believe in you Rey, I just… you know I would give my life for you."

For a minute, Rey was silent and glaring at him. There was a sort of calming energy resonating from Leia's hand, and Poe had Finn's arm in his hand, like he was about to pull him from the room. "What's the point in you doing that if I can't stop this war?"

With that said, she sat back down with a huff, barely registering Poe pulling Finn from the room and Finn's second apology. She was aware of Leia sitting down next to her and moving her hand to her thigh while Rey pulled Luke's lightsaber open and started inspecting it. If anything, she'd use it as a guide to create hers.

"You know, you and my son are very similar.",

The General said after a minute, calling Rey's attention back to her. "You're both two very powerful force wielders, with a lot of responsibility. That raw power can be frightening. And you both struggle with the darkside."

Rey's eyes widened. She had been getting angrier lately. Grumpier, but hadn't attributed that to struggled with the darkside.

"The difference being, my son had someone to seduce him to it, and I failed him by letting him go." Leia looked at Rey and smiled and almost loving smile. Motherly. "I will not make the same mistake with you. You are fighting it. I can tell that much. And I think the light in you is too powerful to let it take you. But I will be with you every step of the way. I promise."

That promise alone was enough to bring tears to Rey's eyes. That motherly look in her eyes. That was how she had hoped someone would look at her someday.

It did make sense though. The more she thought about it. Luke had sensed something as well. It had frightened him.

"How long as you been struggling?"

Rey hadn't responded at all up until then, but she could hardly ignore a direct question. "Since… Ahch-to, I guess. There was… something on that island. Some dark force drawing me in. Master Luke had sensed it. It… it scared him."

Leia nodded knowingly. "It would have been the same force he saw in my son. I am glad you are able to fight it."

"Will it ever leave?"

She pursed her lips in thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I am no expert in the force, dear, but I imagine it won't leave you. It is a part of you. The best I could suggest would be to… accept it. Not give in. Just accept it. Balance it with the light inside you." Leia patted her leg in a supportive kind of way. "Then perhaps you can gain control of it, and it won't be able to make you vulnerable anymore."

Something dark caught Rey's attention before she could respond, and she turned her head to see him. Ben, sitting on the opposite side if the room with his head in his hands. If he was aware that they had connected again, he didn't make it obvious.

Vulnerable. That was it. Their bond connected them when they felt vulnerable. That was why he always came to her when she was upset. And why, even after he had lured her to Ilum to trap her, she found the sight of him comforting.

"Is something the matter, Rey?"

Leia's voice forced her out of her thoughts and Rey's eyes snapped back to her. "Oh uh, no. It's just…" She saw Ben look up from the corner of her eyes. "What you were saying makes a lot of sense."

The General's smiled widened and she patted Rey's leg again. "Good. I'm glad. Now, would you like me to sit with you? I'm afraid I don't know much about lightsabers, so I'm not sure how much help I would be."

"Oh no. I'm… fine. I'll be okay." Rey glanced back at Ben.

Leia seemed to notice her glance, and looked over at where she was looking, but shook her head. "Well, let me know if you need me then, Rey. And good luck."

A long while of silence passed after Leia left the room. Ben sat quietly while Rey pulled scraps from her bag and started shaping them into what she needed. A lightsaber built from scavenged parts. True to her background.

Finally Rey couldn't take it anymore. The awkwardness was getting to her. "Ben, are we going to talk about it?"

He flinched at his name, but didn't object to it this time. "I'd rather not."

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. He was sulking like a child again. This time he kept his mental walls tightly locked, so she couldn't see what he was thinking. "Fine. Me neither."

Ben narrowed his eyes as well, and stood. "Good." He huffed at her, starting to pull his shirt off while the apparition of him walked towards the wall, and disappeared.

Ben had walked away from her, leaving her to build her lightsaber with only her own thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

"Spread your feet more. You'll lose your balance. And keep your back straight. Again." Ben held his lightsaber ready in front of him. "Come at me!"

Rey huffed and ran at him with her newly made lightsaber, shining purple as she swung it at him, nearly falling when Ben easily countered and dodged her attack, sending her flying past him as he danced out of the way.

"You know in the heat of battle your adrenaline keeps you alive well enough, but when it comes down to it, your technique is pathetic." He smirked at her while she righted herself.

Rey blew some hair out of her face and glared at him. "Kriff off. You're the one who wanted to train me." Several weeks had passed since Ilum, and their bond had activated enough times for them to get tired of being angry with one another. "Why are you, again?"

He simply shrugged and glanced at her. "I told you. Someone has to."

"I still can't believe Kylo Ren is training me."

"I still can't believe your lightsaber is purple. That's an extremely rare colour, you know." Ben turned his lightsaber off and turned to her. Rey was sure he was in his own training room, but it was very odd to see someone who was supposed to be her enemy in full gear in her hangar. "How's the rest of it coming?"

Rey frowned and glanced over to the box she had placed the remains of Luke's lightsaber and the second half of her own. "It's all built. I just have to figure out how to make Luke's kyber crystal active again."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You're using his? But I told you you couldn't repair it."

"Well I figured I could just…" It was like a tidal wave of realization that hit her at that moment. She could repair it. Which meant she could have easily just repaired Luke's saber instead of making her own. She didn't need to go to Ilum. "You lied." Rey chuckled and placed her hands on her hips. "You knew I could just repair Luke's lightsaber but told me I couldn't so I'd have to go to Ilum."

Ben simply shrugged again. "You're my enemy. Of course I should try to capture you."

"Am I?" Rey could feel the anger boiling up in her again. "If I remember correctly you didn't capture me. You didn't even try. You let me go." Rey spotted a small chunk of ice floating off the ground and closed her eyes. She was getting emotional again. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. "Ben we are going to have to talk about this eventually."

"About what?"

"About this! About what we are! About how you help me train and then call me your enemy. About how… you've stopped yelling at me for calling you Ben." That made his eyes darken. Like he himself hadn't realized he had stopped mentioning it.

It didn't look like Ben was going to answer. Or that he even had one. Like so often, her words had sent him into silence, unable to come up with a good answer to her questions.

"Ben…"

"Rey." Finn's voice interrupted as he ran into the room. Despite what she had learned about their bond, there was always a tiny moment of panic whenever someone was present while Ben was there. Panic that they might see him before reason set in and Rey remember that he was in her head. Only she could see him. "We're starting soon."

Right. The meeting. Now that they had settled themselves, they needed to plan how they were going to rebuild. "Right. Sorry. I'm almost done. I'll be right there."

Finn nodded and hesitated for only a second, like he wanted to say something, before running off. They hadn't spoken much since their argument.

Rey ran a hand through her hair, having left it down today, and walked over to the box she had placed the lightsaber parts on. It only took her a minute to remove the crystal from Luke's and place it in her own. The crystal turned clear once it left the first lightsaber, and then purple once it sat in her hand, now chosen by her.

"You have to make a choice, Ben." She said as she clicked the two halves together and activated it. Both sides roared to life and suddenly, Rey had the double ended lightsaber she had wanted. "Do you want to be my enemy or my friend?"

Now Rey was back in her element. One handed attacks were not her strong point, but she could use this lightsaber like she would her staff. She would have the upper hand now. She turned and rounded on him quickly, swinging and twirling her new weapon expertly while Ben activated his own lightsaber to block.

Attack after attack he blocked and finally Rey felt like she could beat him without relying on the force. With skill alone. Maybe finally they would be equals.

That all stopped when he countered one of her attacks and sent her skidding to a halt past him, only to stop and turn with another attack.

Her attack never landed. He had been doing the same thing, and now they had found each other face to face, only inches from each other, their noses almost touching.

It was… intoxicating, having him that close, and Rey didn't know what to make of the fact that her heart was now threatening to beat out of her chest. One step forward and they could…

"Ben…" He wasn't doing anything. Just staring at her and she could see herself reflected in his dark eyes. The scar on his face was annoyingly prominent as well. A reminder that she had once hated him. Oh how times had changed.

"Ren!" The voice sounded distant, and almost unreal, but Ben whipped around and disappeared in an instant at the sound of it.

Rey was left speechless, standing alone in her hangar with her lightsaber hanging uselessly from her hand and her cheeks burning.

What had just happened?

 _Author's Note: Ooooooo. It's beginning ;)_ _I feel like I should warn you guys. I work a fulltime job usually but have been off sick for a week, which is why I've been able to upload so frequently. I go back in a couple of days so I won't be able to write as often. I will try to upload at least 1 chapter a week!_ _Thank you so much for your support!_ _-Ash_


	7. Chapter 7

One of the rooms in the base had once served as a sort of war room, complete with a holographic map table in the center where they could plan attacks. It had taken a while to repair thanks to extensive damage, but now that they had it up and running, they could successfully hold meetings and plan for their future.

That was where Rey headed once she had calmed herself down enough from the encounter with Ben, and where everyone was sitting and waiting for her, already in the midst of deciding an offworld voyage for supplies and contacts.

When she stepped into the room, silence fell over it and Leia motioned Rey to come stand next to her. And she might have, if Poe hadn't noticed her lightsabers strapped to her either hip.

"Your lightsaber! Did you finish it?" When she nodded, Poe grinned in his typical excited way. "Come on then. Show us the fruit of your labour, Rey."

Rey sighed and rolled her eyes, but detached the two parts, snapped them together and activated the device, not being able to help the smile at the gasps of surprise that echoed through the room. She gave it a quick twirl over her head, then held it firmly in both hands in front of her.

Poe laughed. "Well that's perfect! She should go then. If anyone can convince him, it's a Jedi."

"Convince who?" Rey deciding to ignore the fact that she had once again, been called a Jedi, and deactivated the saber so she could safely walk over to her spot beside Leia without decapitating anyone.

Leia did not seem as happy as Poe's suggestion as he did, nor did Finn. "That is up to her, Poe. We were just discussing before you entered, Rey, how the base shields are still down and we can't get them repaired. If the First Order find us here, we are defenseless. We were going to send out a group to make contact with an ally, but deciding it would be best to try and find a broken part we need to replace on the way."

"It looks like this." A technician standing on the other side pulled out a large cone shaped thing, which looked like it may have glowed once. "Only glowy and… not broken. This kind of technology is rare now. But I believe a man called Unkar Plutt may have one."

Rey's eyes darkened. She recognized that thing. "He does. Assuming he hasn't sold it. I am the one who scavenged it for him."

It seemed that most of them weren't aware that she came from Jakku. Poe included. All of their expressions fell.

"General." Rey turned her face towards the woman with a frown. "All due respect, but I have made my peace with the fact that I wasn't going back to Jakku. To go back now…"

Leia smiled her usual understanding smile and patted her shoulder. "I understand, Rey. Any other volunteers?"

"It won't be easy to convince him to sell it to us." Poe was frowning at the table. "There is reason to believe he's worked with the First Order in the past. And from what I hear he's a stubborn man. Rey… I'm sorry but… if he saw you… What you've become… it may scare him into working with us."

"You have changed a lot since then, Rey." Finn was nodding his agreement with Poe as he looked at her, though he looked reluctant. "As much as I hate to admit it, I think Poe is right. If anyone can convince him, it's you. Especially if you come down in the Falcon. He might think it's the perfect opportunity to steal it back. Preventing him from doing that would help."

"Yeah intimidation. I like that." Poe grinned at Finn. That was the first time Rey ever saw the two of them agree on something involving her.

She sighed and shook her head. They had a point. "Fine, but if I'm doing this, confronting him, I am going in alone. This is something I have to do myself."

At that demand, everyone seemed reluctant. Letting their best chance handle something alone was too dangerous for some. Rey almost rolled her eyes again. It was like they didn't think she was capable of anything.

Luckily, Leia agreed with her, and that put an end to and arguments that anyone may have had. "Yes I think Rey can handle Plutt on her own. Perfect. That settles that. Now onto the contact. We haven't heard back from many of our allies, but this man, Zavroc Welleck, did get back to us. He says he is more than happy to provide us with ships and men and anything else we need, but…"

"Oh there's always a but." Poe muttered under his breath like no one could hears.

Leia shot him a look before continuing. "He is unsure of whether or not we can actually win after hearing of our situation. Even with the exaggeration I provided."

"So what does he want?" Rey leaned on the table and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Proof that we have the means to beat the First Order. Proof that there is still hope. In other words…" Leia met Rey's eyes and frowned. "He wants to meet you, Rey. There have been rumours spreading that there is a new Jedi fighting with the Resistance. He think if it's true, we have a chance but he wants proof."

Rey sighed and looked down at the table. "So what you're saying is whether I had agreed to meet Unkar Plutt or not, I'm going on this mission?"

"If your agree."

"I don't like it." Finn had his hands pressed together in front of his face and his eyes narrowed in thought. "Specifically asking for Rey. It's suspicious. It could be a trap."

"It could be." Leia agreed with a nod. "Which is why I will leave it up to Rey to decide.

Rey had already made her decision. It wasn't like this would be the first time she had walked into a trap. "Who cares if it's a trap? We need help and if there's a chance we can get it, we should."

"Then it's decided." Poe announced as he stepped forward. "Chewbacca, Finn, Rey and I will take the Falcon and make for Jakku, then head towards… wait where is this guy, General?"

"The Kal'Shebbol system."

"Kal'Shebbol. We'll head there. One day should give us enough time to prepare. We'll.leave tomorrow night." With that said, everyone around the table started to shuffle out of the room.

Rey hadn't been planning on pulling Leia aside, but the sight of the woman preparing to leave made her panic slightly and she was reaching out to stop her before she could think about what she was doing. "Uh, sorry General… can… I have a word?"

Leia raised an eyebrow, but nodded and stepped back to her spot, waiting for everyone to file out of the room before speaking. "What's on your mind, Rey?"

Rey wasn't entirely sure, if she was going to be honest. What was she supposed to say? 'I have a force bond with your son and we've been talking but he's actually nice'? No that sounded stupid. "Uhm… have you ever heard of a force bond? Like when the force connects your mind with someone else's and you can talk to them like they're really there even if they're on the other side of the galaxy?"

The General raised an eyebrow at Rey again. "Yes. Luke told me about them. They are extremely rare apparently. A strong bond must already exist between the two, though they usually aren't aware of it."

"Well… uh…" Rey frowned and scratched her head. She may as well just be blunt about it. "I have one with Kylo Ren."

Her expression was confusing. Like she was shocked and had been expecting that confession all at once. But she didn't say anything, leaving the door open for Rey to get out all of her thoughts on the matter.

"Snoke said that he created the bond to try and lure me in, but he's dead now and if anything it appears stronger." It was like Rey had opened up the floodgates and all of her thoughts came spilling out at once. "He appears whenever I'm feeling emotionally distraught. Like the bond is somehow activated when either of us is feeling vulnerable. It's almost like the force is pushing us together so that we can comfort one another. For a while I chose to ignore the fact that we were still enemies because thinking about that made things weird but…"

"But something happened…" When Rey trailed off, Leia finished her sentence for her in a thoughtful tone. She was taking in everything Rey was telling her.

Rey nodded, her cheeks heating up slightly at the memory of only a few moments before. "He's been… training me. Sort of. It doesn't make much sense and I'm not sure what either of us are thinking but a while ago, before the meeting… we… I mean he…" The best way to explain it was to say they almost kissed, but that just seemed even more ridiculous. And made her even more uncomfortable, saying that to his mother especially. "What I'm trying to say it… I don't think he's Kylo Ren anymore. He may have been for a while but I think ki… killing… Han, and then Snoke, may have done something to him. We never talk about the war. He never tries to spy on me. On Ilum he… let me go and now he's training me? If he was truly my enemy, why would he be doing all of that?"

Leia didn't answer for a while, lost in thought as she processed all of this new information. "You think you can save him, don't you?"

That was the simple way of putting it. Rey nodded.

The way Leia's eyes lit up could only be compared to a star being born. "That's it. We don't end this war through violence. We end it by saving my son. Luke told me on Crait that he couldn't save Ben. I thought he meant that he was too long gone to save. Maybe what he really meant was that Ben could be saved, just not by him." Leia paused to grab Rey's hands. "By you instead. Oh this is wonderful news. As much as they try, I don't think we can fight this war anymore with ships and blasters. I think it's moved beyond that. What do you need, Rey?"

That was a good question. What had been her motivation in telling Leia? Was it just to get it off her chest, or was there someway the woman could help her? "Time. Let Poe and the others carry on with their plans but lead them down paths that will give me more time. And… maybe… you could help me train? I need to find a way to strengthen the bond. Maybe then I can establish a connection myself. And… anything you can tell me about him? You know him better than anyone."

She had to think about that for a second. "Ben is used to being given up on. Han did not understand the force, and left frequently. I gave him on him by sending him to Luke and Luke gave up on him by betraying him." Leia paused to squeeze her hands. "Fight for him Rey. Don't give up. He no longer trusts me but… maybe a fresh start with you is what he needs to realize his place."

So that was it. Save Ben Solo. End the war. Simple enough.


	8. Chapter 8

The sight of Jakku was not a welcome one. It had taken Rey so long to make the decision to give up on it, and now that she had, it easier to see just how difficult her life on the sandy planet had been.

All the physical and mental from scavenging. Her food supply dependant on how much Unkar Plutt decided she was worth rather than how much what she brought him was. Constant injury and exhaustion. It had not been close to an ideal way to live.

And yet here she was, aboard the very ship she had stolen from Unkar to escape the planet, now returning to it once more. And she wouldn't be able to avoid a single part of her past here. After all. Unkar Plutt had been her entire reason for coming.

"You're upset."

Rey had felt Ben's presence for near an hour now, but had chosen to ignore him as she prepared to step back onto the sand. She didn't want to face him right now. "What's happened?"

She sighed and tied her belt tightly around her waist. "I'm about to go talk to the man who bought me from my parents." Rey said, shooting him a small glare and watchung him frown before pushing past him into the common room. "That's what's happened."

For the first time, walking away from him didn't make him disappear. Instead Ben seemed to follow her, through the ship and down the ramp where Poe, Leia and Finn waited. Leia had decided upon coming last minute to meet with their contact.

All of their expressions were grim. Finn had likely explained what this place meant to her.

"Rey. Are you sure you don't need me to come with you?" Finn had to squint his eyes against the sun, but Rey felt almost at home in it, despite the memories here.

She shook her head and brushed past them. "No. I'm fine. Besides. He's already headed this way."

And there he was. Unkar Plutt, as hideous and disgusting as ever. He waddled towards them with a few of the mercenaries that he kept employed to punish anyone who wronged him.

Finn frowned at him. "Didn't see much of him before. But man he's ugly."

"Probably saw the Falcon." Poe added as he watched the man slowly make his way over. "You guys said you stole it from it right?"

"Stole it back." Rey corrected him and started making her way across the sand. "It was never his to begin with."

The only one who followed her was Ben and though he would only hear one side of the conversation, she was glad he was there. Rey stopped about ten feet away from Unkar, glaring at him with her hand on her sabers.

"Rey." The sound of Unkar's voice was like nails on a chalkboard. Extremely unpleasant. "You have a lot of nerve coming back here after stealing my ship. Unless you're here to return it and apologize."

"I'm here to make a deal, Unkar." Rey figured there was no point in pleasantries. This was business. That was all. "And it's not your ship." Without giving him the chance to respond, she pulled a small hologram from her pocket and tossed it at him. One of his mercenaries bent to pick it up and activate it. "I know you have one. What do you want for it?"

Unkar stared at the object floating before him and smiled. "I want the Falcon. I have no intention of letting you leave here with it anyway, but it would be nice if you could make this easy for me." When Rey didn't budge he glanced passed her to the three standing at the ramp. "I see you have some friends. Two boys and an old woman. Easily taken care of."

"I also have a Wookie." She added without missing a beat. As if on cue, she heard Chewbacca descend the ramp behind her. "Did you know they're known to tear arms off? Look Unkar, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I'm getting that part and I don't care how. Especially in regards to you."

Now Unkar was frowning at her. "And what do you plan to do? You've never been able to stand up to me before."

Rey sighed and glanced at Ben, who was watching her with a quizzical expression. For a moment she wondered if he could hear more than she thought. When he raised an eyebrow at her, Rey decided to unhook her sabers from her side and connect them. It seemed intimidation would be the best way to get through to Unkar. And what could be more intimidating than the force.

It was almost amusing to see a flash of fear cross Unkar's face when she activated her lightsaber and twirled it expertly to hold behind her back. "You were saying?"

Unkar was silent for a second before smiling again. "Rey. Now where did you scavenge that from?"

"He's antagonizing you, isn't he?" Ben was standing closer to her now and staring solely at her. If he was questioning that, then he must not be hearing anything beyond her voice. He was likely just guessing based on her emotions. "Don't let him. Show him what you are. Prove to him that he can't control you anymore."

Rey held out her arm and flicked her hand to the side. One of the ships Unkar had parked in his shipyard flipped and promptly exploded when it's fuel tank hit a boulder, sending fire and debris shooting out.

Rey nearly grinned when she saw Unkar flinch and stare wide eyed at the burning remains of his ship.

"The part, Unkar?"

He hesitated, but turned to one of the mercenaries and muttered a command. The man went running off back to the outpost and Unkar turned back to her. "So what are you now? A Jedi or something?"

Now Rey did smile. "Not a Jedi. Just someone who is sick of being used."

A moment later, the mercenary returned and hesitantly walked up to her to hand her the part she had come for. Rey thanked him and turned back to Unkar. "Pleasure doing business with you." She offered the snarky remark just before turning and heading back. This time, Ben didn't follow her.

His presence disappeared as she reached the others, who also stared at her with wide eyes.

"Wow, Rey. That was something." Poe muttered with a grin.

Finn appeared even more impressed. "That was amazing, that's what. Imagine what you can do once you're trained!"

"She sure is powerful." Leia was giving her that typical kind smile of hers. "I am glad you were able to face him, Rey. Well done. Though you did use a bit more force that I was expecting. Quite literally."

 _Author's Note: Ooooo What's happening with Rey I wonder. :P Whew that took a while to write. Sorry for the wait guys! I struggled a bit with this chapter. I'm back to work now so updates won't be a frequent. I will keep posting as often as I can though!_ _The next chapter is going to be interesting. ;) I'm excited._ _And thank you again for all the suppprt! I love reading all the comments. They make my day._ _-Ash_


	9. Chapter 9

Kal'Shebbol was a wet planet covered in rolling plains and farms. Located on one end of the Trition Trade Route meant despite the humble appearance of most of the single continent, the city was highly populated, serving as a main trading hub.

It was difficult to secure a landing spot for the Falcon due to the high volume of citizens, but after a while orbiting the planet, they were able to make their descent and land without issue.

With the part they acquired on Jakku hidden safely in one of the smuggling compartments, and Chewie left with Finn to guard the Falcon, the other three were able to venture out into the city in search of their contact.

Their target was a casino towards the middle of town, meant to entertain and exploit the riches of visiting traders while they stayed. They had unfortunately landed in the middle of the night, so despite the active nightlife, Leia doubted their friend would see them until morning.

"I'm so sorry." A Twi'lek girl with brilliant blue skin and eyes had greeted them inside, and looked far more apologetic than Rey imagined their host was. "Master Welleck has already retired for the night. We weren't expecting you until tomorrow."

Poe was about to speak up, likely demand to see him anyway, but Leia held a hand up to silence him. "When will we be able to see him?"

The Twi'lek looked thankful that they weren't going to argue. "Morning would be best, miss. The nightlife here is very active. Many eyes. But in the morning they all sleep."

Leia smiled and nodded, turning to leave the casino. "We will return then. Thank you."

"We should go back to the ship." Rey waited until they were out of the casino to say anything. "Can hardly leave Finn and Chewie by themselves all night."

She expected Poe to agree with him, but he only smiled and stepped out onto the street. "What are you talking about? They've got BB-8 and a few porgs to keep them company. This is a good chance to grab some supplies. General?"

Leia gave a soft chuckle and waved her hand. "Off you go then. We will meet you back at the Falcon in a few hours. Be careful!" The last sentence had to be shouted as Poe was already running off in search of who knows what. Still smiling, she turned to Rey and placed a hand on her back. "We should find somewhere quiet for you to meditate. There aren't many opportunities on that ship."

Though Rey was reluctant to stay away from the Falcon for too long, she had to agree with her. If she had any chance of learning to contact Ben herself, she would need somewhere private to practice.

"You did well on Jakku, but I could sense how upset you were." Leia was saying as they walked, giving Rey a side glance. "He was there with you, wasn't he? While you were confronting Unkar Plutt. He stood beside you."

Rey almost didn't want to answer. Even though she had made Leia aware of the force bond so that she could have someone to talk to about it, part of it still seemed private. Still, Rey nodded and sighed. "I can never see anything in his surroundings, and vice versa. He had no idea what Unkar Plutt was saying, but he still somehow knew what to say to me to help me through it."

"If you don't mind my asking, what did he say to you?"

Another question Rey was reluctant to answer. "He said to show him what I am. Prove to him that he can't control me anymore."

Leia gave a hum and nodded, giving Rey a different smile this time. A happy one. "He helped you break free of your past. Of what was holding you back. Just like you did for him with Snoke."

They found a small lounge, made up of a large dining area, and small private rooms for hosting parties. Leia bought one for a few hours, and after insisting that she would be fine by herself, left Rey inside alone.

Rey hadn't the slightest idea of where to start. In a bond strengthened by vulnerability, how could one activate it themselves? Even if Luke had been around to teach her, he himself would probably know nothing about whatever was between her and Ben.

The best place to start, she decided, would be to just reach out to him with the force. Rey sat down on one of the couches and crossed her legs, closing her eyes and trying to remember to breathe. With Ben's instructions, meditation had become easier, but it was still a struggle.

'Let yourself be taken away by the force, and trust it.

Rey took a deep breath in, and dove into the force, searching for him. Instead of reaching out generally to the force itself like Luke had taught her, Rey focused her thoughts on Ben and her desire to find him, looking through the waves for any sign of his force signature.

She found it. He was angry.

The first thing Rey heard was a shout, followed by a crash. Her eyes snapped open and she saw him standing with his back to her, his chest heaving in anger. She scrambled to her feet, and opened her mouth to say his name.

"Hux is trying to undermine me." Ben didn't give her to chance to greet him. "No matter what I do, he refuses to truly see me as Supreme Leader."

She was surprised he was admitting this to her so easily. They never spoke about the war. About the happenings with their respective sides. The most he'd gotten out of her was the fact that she had returned to Jakku. "That's because he knows you're conflicted. He knows you're not truly loyal to the First Order."

"I chose it!" He raised his voice and turned to face her. The anger in his eyes nearly made her flinch. He almost looked like Kylo Ren again. Almost. "You left me, so I chose it instead! He should accept me as the leader! I am the only one who can replace Snoke." Ben started to pace, one hand pushing his hair from his face and the other clenching angrily. "He always hated me. He is trying to use this opportunity to pass me. We were equals for far too long."

Rey's eyes followed him as he paced, studying his every move. No, he wasn't Kylo again. He was still Ben. She would have to choose her words carefully. "You can't replace Snoke." The glare he shot at her would have made anyone else flinch. "Snoke was an insane psychopath with too much power. He saw a boy with power and used his vulnerability to make him hate his own family so he could use him to pursue his own sick dreams. In the end, that was his downfall." Rey stepped towards his and met his eyes with all the intensity she could muster. "He never expected you to fight him. You were more powerful than he imagined. You can't replace him because you will surpass him. And you will do that by destroying his dream. With my help."

For a second, Ben continued to stare into her eyes, as if searching for the lie in her words that wasn't there. It ended when he let out an angry grunt and continued his pacing. "I know how these conversations go by now. You're going to ask me to come back again. To come back to my mother. I won't. I can't."

Rey stepped towards him again. "Ben. I kno-"

"How can I!? How can I face her!?" He stopped just in front of her and turned. Though Rey's eyes widened for a second, he hardly seemed to notice the proximity. "I can't face her. Not after what I did. No matter what you say."

Most of the silences between them were awkward, with neither knowing what to say or do thanks to the complexity of their relationship. This time it wasn't. Something felt different. Stronger and more relaxing. Rey smiled at him, and lifted a hand hesitantly. "You think that the only option is for you to come home and face your mother." She said, delicately placing a hand on his cheek. Ben flinched and she didn't blame him. It wasn't often their bond allowed them to touch and it felt strange, but right at the same time. "You're wrong. Leia wants to see you, sure. But you being safe is far more important to her."

Ben's eyes were boring into hers. A part of her recognized this situation. Being this close to him only a few days before. But it was different this time. "She has told me herself. If you don't want to see her, that's fine. As long as you're safe."

The silence that passed between them seemed to last an eternity. Rey had no idea what he was thinking. She was struggling to organize her own thoughts. He did relax, though. It seemed her attempt to calm him at been successful. And that in turn made her relax. Feeling him calm at her touch brought a peace to her that Rey couldn't describe.

It was… intoxicating.

He leaned forward before she could react. His hand was grabbing the one on his cheek and his lips were kissing her eagerly so quickly that for a second, all Rey could do was stand there, frozen in shock.

Ben's other hand lifted to wrap around her waist and hold her close. Everything that had been building up between them came crashing down all at once and it was suffocating, but Rey found herself unable to complain. She twisted her hand in his as he pulled it from his face so that their fingers could tangle together and her other hand grabbed a fistful of his shirt.

The bond was a whirlwind of emotion, the connection stronger than ever as the force practically pushed them together.

It ended as quickly as it had begun. There was a sudden jolt in the force, and then Ben was pushing her away and turning partially with a hand on his mouth and his eyes wide in confusion.

Rey went to say his name again but he held up a hand to quiet her. "What is this?" He asked instead, now gazing around as if he could see the room she was in and was confused by it. Could he? "What are you doing to me?"

His eyes met her again, and though Rey wondered if she'd be able to speak since he had taken her breath away, she stared at him with the same intensity as before. "I'm saving you."

The door whooshed open and Ben's gaze snapped towards it. Rey watched as he and Leia stared at each other, eyes wide and even though her bond wasn't with the General, she could feel the love radiating from her.

Ben turned back to Rey and opened his mouth to say something, but only managed a "What…" before disappearing, their connection severed once again.

Neither Rey nor Leia said anything. Neither of them had an answer for what had just happened.

The force works in strange ways.

 _A/N: Whoop, there it is! It's gonna keep getting more intense from here ;D_ _The next chapter might be a bit short. I won't be focusing too much on this Welleck guy. But after that we'll be right back into the mess!_ _I went to see the new movie again. I wonder how many times I'll do that until it stops playing. I don't wanna wait for it to come out on DVD!_ _-Ash_


	10. Chapter 10

Zavroc Welleck was a Twi'lek, like his servant. Which wasn't surprising considering the planet had been settled first by Twi'leks years ago.

He wore expensive closing, with his lekku decorated in jewelry adorned with warm gems meant to compliment his red skin.

If Rey wasn't going to be perfectly honest, he wasn't what she had expected.

Zavroc greeted Leia like an old friend with a kiss on the cheek, and lead them towards the back of his casino into a more private room. It was full of short tables and couches, which he invited them to take a seat on.

"My dear Princess. I cannot express how wonderful it is to see you alive and well." His voice was soft and strange to Rey, coated in a thick accent she only partially recognized. "May I offer you a drink?"

Leia was the first to take a seat, and also took the drink the blue Twi'lek girl from the previous night offered her. "It is good to see you as well, Zavroc."

Rey couldn't say no when the girl offered her a drink as well before moving on to Poe. Both of them decided against taking a seat.

"I am so sorry for making you wait. We were not expecting you so soon when you said you had a separate matter to take care of first." Zavroc paused to take a sip of his own drink. "From what you tell me, your Resistance is in dire need of some assistance? If it weren't for what you told me of this Jedi, I would think the First Order was about to win."

Leia frowned and sighed, placing her drink on the table before her. "We are in dark times, of that I am sure. But we have not lost yet. There is still hope."

Zavroc hummed and nodded. "I am, of course, more than willing to help. I have plenty of reasons to hate the First Order. I have ships and men ready to fight for you. However… Not everyone shares my optimistic views. Many of them believe the Jedi you speak of to be Luke Skywalker, and they all agree that he is not coming back."

Rey saw Poe straighten as if to say something, but as usual, Leia interrupted him. "They are correct. My brother is never coming back. We are placing our faith in a new Jedi." She waved her hand to motion to Rey, who stepped forward reluctantly. Part of her still felt strange taking on the name of Jedi.

Zavroc studied her for a moment, then stood and walked towards her. "Forgive me, but you don't look like a Jedi. Something in your eyes tells me you are untrained…"

"Rey." She had a feeling he was asking her name by trailing off. He wasn't wrong though. She was untrained. Somehow, Rey would have to convince him she could defeat the First Order. Which would be difficult since she doubted it herself.

Rey reached to her back where she'd changed the holsters for her sabers, deciding it would be more effective there. They unhooked with a click and she acticated them as she brought them forward to show him.

Zavroc did not seem as impressed as she had hoped. "Anyone can hold a lightsaber, dear. My men need more proof to convince them."

He was asking her to use the force. Rey glanced at the expectant eyes of Leia and Poe. Even the Twi'lek girl was watching curiously.

The force only seemed to cooperate her when the need was dire, or when her emotions ran rampant. It was something Rey often chastised herself for. She needed to get a hold of her emotions. Contain them so the force would move through her in a more controlled manner. So it wasn't just random outbursts of power like all the times before.

Control. Breathe. Trust the force.

All lessons Ben had taught her.

Rey took a deep breath, and focused on a couch on the other side of the room. She placed her sabers back in their holster, and lifted a hand towards the couch. It rose from the ground steadily, lifting a few feet and hovering before she put it back down delicately. Not flicked violently like Unkar's ship. Not jerked harshly like the maintenance door on Hoth. Controlled and slow. Lifted and placed down delicately.

Pride swelled up in her chest. That was the best she had ever done with her control of the force.

Zavroc seemed pleased as well. He let out a happy laugh and clapped his hands together. "It is true! Leia you have found a Jedi who can end the war at last! Now that I have seen this I know I can tell my men with the most confidence. They will listen now, I'm sure of it. Now, where should I…"

Rey let Zavroc's voice fade from her senses as other thoughts overcame her.

All lessons Ben had taught her. He had helped her more than anyone. More than even Luke.

And yet it wasn't his training that she thought of. It was the events of their most recent moment together. The thought of him kissing her made her cheeks burn, but oddly enough, even that wasn't the focus of her thoughts.

It was like their intimate moment had awakened something between them. Something that strengthened the bond and for a second, brought him into her reality.

Rey's eyes drifted to General Organa and narrowed in thought.

They hadn't spoke after she appeared in the room. Rey had gotten dizzy afterwards and nearly collapsed. The entire remainder of the night had been a blur.

Still, she remembered the urgent expression on Leia's face, and how she stared at where Ben stood despite the fact that she shouldn't have been able to see him. And how he stared back.

Rey knew Leia was force sensitive. Had the bond become so strong that she could feel Ben's presence even though she wasn't a part of it?

And the biggest question was, would this work the opposite way? If something more happened between them, could she end up trapped on one of the First Order's ships?

Would he protect her?

"General. Sorry to interrupt." There was a concerned expression on Poe's face. "We need to leave. Finn just told me they see war ships in the sky. I don't know how, but the First Order has found us."

Almost as soon as he said that, Rey felt a familiar ripple in the force, and turned towards the door.

"Kylo Ren."

 _A/N: Well that was a short but difficult to write. But it laid down the foundation for Chapter 11, which should definitely be interesting!_

 _I'm excited! Thank you for all the support! It really helps me keep motivated to write :D_

 _-Ash_


	11. Chapter 11

Poe was right. Upon exiting the casino, Rey could see three warships hovering high above the planet's atmosphere. Already there were fighters attacking the town and people running as they attempted to escape.

"You have to leave." Zavroc had followed them out, and stared up at the warships with fear in his eyes. "Will you be able to get to your ship? My men will not be able to join your forces if they die today."

"I understand." Leia answered with a smile, pulling a blaster from somewhere within her dress. "We will be fine. Get yourself to safety."

Zavroc nodded and retreated back inside the casino.

Rey pulled one of her lightsabers from its holster and held it firmly in one hand, reaching out with the force to try and locate Ben. He was on the ground already. That much she knew. "Poe, get the General to the ship." She commanded as she activated the lightsaber and stepped forward.

"What about you?" Rey turned to meet his eyes with a determination he likely wasn't used to seeing. Very few ever had.

"I am going to confront Ren." That answer didn't seem like enough. Rey had to find him before anyone else so she could try to get through to him, but she couldn't very well tell Poe that. "I need to engage him away from the Falcon. Otherwise we leave ourselves open to ambush. Get her to safety."

She left without another word, leaving Leia in Poe's hands.

The city was already swarming with Stormtroopers, engaged with city guards. That coupled with the fighters firing down at the streets meant progress was slow. Not that it mattered. Rey hadn't the slightest clue of where exactly Ben was. Only that he was near, and he felt different than before. Less soft. More angry.

Rey had been practicing fighting with one lightsaber, so she was able to hold her own without activating both. She even managed to deflect a few blaster shots aimed at her, and saved several guards from losing their lives amongst the chaos.

This wasn't fair. They were attacking and killing an entire city, just because Rey and Leia happened to be there. These were not the acts of Ben Solo. He was Kylo Ren again.

Eventually, Rey started to see scorch marks on the ground and sides of buildings. Marks that could have only been left by a lightsaber. He had been here.

A group of four stormtroopers rounded the corner. One of them started to shout that the Jedi was there, but Rey had lunged forward and cut him down without a second thought. She swung her lightsaber at the second, catching him across the chest and sending him tumbling to the ground.

The other two put up more of a fight. One continued to fire their blaster, while the other engaged her with the Z6 Baton that Finn had told her about. He hadn't been wrong when he said it could deflect lightsabers.

Her saber bounced off like it was nothing more than a metal rod and the trooper was well trained. Every attempt Rey made at breaking his defenses failed. She was not experienced in battle. That much was sure.

Rey was finally able to get the advantage when a shot from the other trooper distracted her enough for the first to knock her down, sending a bolt of electricity through her body.

With a cry of pain, Rey instinctively reached out to the force, and flicked a piece of debris from a nearby building as the trooper, crushing him instantly. The act surprised even herself, but more importantly, the trooper with the blaster.

Ignoring the residual pain left from the electric shock, Rey jumped to her feet and used force moved a small piece of debris towards them. The act knocked them to the ground and soon she was on them, fully intent on ending the small fight with one blow.

Something stopped her.

For just a second, Rey saw Finn's face flash across her vision. If he had never defected, it could have been him pinned beneath her foot.

Though she couldn't see the troopers face behind their mask, Rey was reminded there was a human back there, and sighed, deciding to merely point her lightsaber at them menacingly. "Kylo Ren. Where is he?"

The trooper hesitantly pointed to their right.

Rey lifted her foot to kick the blaster away, as she deactivated her lightsaber. "What's your name?"

"FN-311." Again the trooper hesitated, but gave their name eventually.

"FN-311." Rey repeated and stepped back. "Do me a favour. Don't die today. Too many have already." She ran off without giving FN-311 a chance to respond, right in the direction that had indicated.

FN-311 hadn't been lying. The further Rey went, the closer Ben felt through their bond. She had to take down a few more stormtroopers along the way, but mostly trying to knock them aside rather than kill them.

Eventually, Rey made it to what appeared to be a hangar, and paused only momentarily when she heard a scream before charging in. She charged inside just in time to see a ship lift from the ground, and Kylo Ren shove the blue Twi'lek girl from Zavroc's casino aside. Somehow she knew the girl was still alive, just unconscious, and hoped that Zavroc had made his escape on the ship.

Luckily, her appearance seemed to distract Ren from attempting to stop the ship from leaving, as he turned to her as it took off.

"You think you can save me, Scavenger." He said as his form of greeting. His eyes were darker than before. Somehow, the darkness was growing in him again. "You think you can save Ben Solo. You're wrong. It's too late. Ben Solo is dead."

Rey frowned at him and activated her lightsaber. Even through the darkness in his eyes, she could still see the conflict in him. Even if he had cut her off through their bond. "So what you are saying then, is that Kylo Ren is the one who kissed me? Kylo Ren is the one who let me go on Ilum? Kylo Ren is the one who cried in front of me multiple times about how he killed his father and refuses to come home because he can't bear to face his mother after what he did? Is that what you're saying? Because if so, then Kylo Ren must be a better person than he wants everyone to believe."

Ren gave a frustrated growl, and activated his lightsaber before running at him. But Rey was ready. She countered his attack and twisted out of his way, internally preparing herself for a fight.

This was it. This was the moment that would finally decide their fate. Would she be able to save him, or was Ben Solo truly gone forever?

Ren huffed angrily and came at her again, this time ready for her to dodge and reacting accordingly. He almost got her in the arm, but Rey allowed her survival instincts to kick in full throttle and fell backwards, kicking out her feet and knocking him over.

Then she had the advantage, aiming another lick at his side and using her lightsaber only to block his attacks. While Rey had her survival instincts, Kylo Ren had his strength, so after a second he was able to shove her off and jump back to his feet.

Their lightsabers collided with each other as they both went in for an attack. Red against purple. Him against her. But not for long if Rey had any say.

"How did you find us?"

Ren glared into her eyes. "I saw the view from your window yesterday, and followed the trail. You left yourself vulnerable."

"Oh. You mean right after you kissed me? Right, I remember that."

Rey could see the anger building in his eyes. But even as that grew, she saw light rising to fight it. It reminded her of something Snoke had said. Something about Kylo Ren's equal in the light rising to fight him.

"Shut up." He growled at her and pushed hard against their lightsabers, forcing Rey to grit her teeth and kneel against his strength.

"What are you planning to do here?" She panted against the effort of holding him off. She would not give in.

Kylo Ren scoffed at her, as if the answer was completely obvious. "I will destroy the Resistance! Starting with you. And then precious General Organa."

Rey narrowed her eyes. "You mean your mother? Can you do that, Ben? Can you?"

"Don't call me that!"

"I don't think you can. I don't think you can kill either of us." Rey kicked her leg out and knocked him off balance enough for her to shove him off and twist away.

When she did, she faced him and frowned. "You won't hurt me. I believe that." Taking a breath, Rey deactivated her lightsaber, and hooked it back into her holster.

He only glared at her as he stood again. "You're wrong."

"Am I?" A single beat of silence passed between them, with Rey returning his glare as a challenge. "Prove it."

Kylo Ren let out a war cry as he ran at her, swinging his lightsaber as if to slice her neck. She heard the woosh as it neared her, then the crackling as it stopped, hovering beside her ear instead of making contact.

Rey didn't even flinch. She didn't look away from him. Just kept gazing into his eyes determinedly. She would make him understand that she was never going to stop trying to save him. Never.

Ben stared at her for a long moment. Seemingly torn between all the options laid out before him. Rey realized how much conflict she caused in him. He had come here to destroy them, but now facing her, he was unsure again.

He caught her by surprise again, grabbing her shirt and pulling her forward to press his lips to her in a desperate kiss. Kissing in person felt different than through their bond. More intimate, almost.

It took Rey's breath away immediately, but it didn't last nearly long enough. Ben pushed her away just the same as last time and walked a few feet away to stand with his back to her.

"You would have let me kill you?"

Rey sighed at his question. She supposed, by offering her life to him, she was similar to Han Solo. The only difference being that Han Solo had offered himself knowing Ben would kill him. She did so knowing he wouldn't. "I knew you wouldn't." After a moment, she added, "I trust you."

"Why?" His words were laced with pain again. "Why do you trust me? After everything I've done to you?"

That was a very good question. Rey already had the answer, but putting it into words wasn't easy. "I guess because… you're the only one in the universe who really… understands. What it's like to be alone. Abandoned. And when I'm with you… I don't know. I guess I just feel… free. In a way that none of my friends make me feel."

Ben didn't respond at first. Simply standing with his back to her until he took a deep breath. "Coming here was a mistake. I'll call off my troops." He said as he turned and moved to walk past her towards the door.

But Rey wasn't done with him. Not yet. They would decide once and for all today what they were doing and he wasn't leaving until then. "What? No!" Rey side stepped to block him and pressed a hand to his chest in an attempt to stop him from leaving. "No you don't get to do that! You don't get to kiss me like that and then go running back to the First Order!" He stumbled backwards and fell when she force pushed him away from the door and narrowed her eyes. "Neither of us are leaving until we've settled this."

"Settled what!?"

"This!" Rey motioned between them. "Whatever… this is between us. We need to talk about it and figure it out once and for all!"

Ben climbed to his feet and glared at her again, this time not with the hard eyes of Kylo Ren, but the soft ones that she loved. "Why do you care so much!? Just leave!"

"Because everyone gave up on you!" Rey screamed these words back at him and watched Ben fall into silence as she placed a determined expression on her face. "Your father. Your mother. Even your master. Both of them. They all betrayed you in some way and I will not be like them! Because I… I need you!" It felt strange admitting that, and Rey felt her eyes starting to sting. She turned away partially to wipe at her eyes and her voice softened when she spoke again. "I can't give up on you because I need you. And I think you need me too."

The silence that passed between them seemed to last an eternity. Both lost in thought and waiting for the other to say something. Rey hoped that maybe one day, these silences would become comfortable, rather than awkward.

She did need him, she realized. He made her feel more normal than anyone. Even Finn. Maz had been right. The belonging she wanted had not been behind her. It was ahead. She had assumed it was in her friends in the Resistance, but it was him. Ben Solo.

Maybe he was right. Maybe it was time for it all to end. In what world could a Sith Lord and a Jedi be happy together? Only one where none of them existed. And if it all ended, so would the fighting. So would the death.

FN-311 flashed through her mind again. The enemy she had spared only because she had remembered they were human. Like her. The Resistance and the First Order. All of them were just people.

"Right. I've come to a decision." The determined expression had returned to her face.

"What decision?"

Rey turned her head to look at him. "You're right. None of this can survive. The Jedi went on and on about balance, but how can balance be achieved amongst all this chaos and violence?" She wasn't going to hold back now. Rey started to pace, intending to let her words run free to help make sense of the thoughts in her head. "The Sith fight the Jedi. The Empire fights the Rebellion. The First Order fights the Resistance. It never stops. And maybe it does all need to end. Snoke said that as your power grew, you equal in the light would rise as well. Maybe that wasn't so that we could fight. Maybe it was so that we could end the war together. I don't care about this fight. I never wanted to be a part of this war. All I care about is keeping the people I love alive and now… now you're one of them." Rey stopped pacing and faced him. Even with their bond, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. She held out a hand for him to take. Like he had on Snoke's ship. "All of this has to end. The First Order and the Resistance. Otherwise they'll just keep blowing each other up and there will never be balance. At the end of all this, it will be just us standing together. I see it now. That is our destiny. Not to fight each other. But to stand together."

Ben stared at her hand with a frown. Rey could have sworn she saw a flash of longing pass over his face, but it was gone before she could tell. "I made the same offer to you once. You rejected me."

Rey frowned as well. "And now I am extending that same offer again. I should have said yes. Join me."

His eyes flicked up to meet her own. "I will not join the Resistance. I can't."

She sighed and dropped her hand slightly. "You're not understanding. I'm not asking you to join the Resistance. I'm asking you to join me."

Another silence passed between them. Rey could sense the gears turning in his head as he thought.

"Ben please."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her forward suddenly. In that split second, Rey realized there had been a strange whizzing sound she hadn't noticed until it was too late.

Wrapped in his arms protectively, Rey heard the explosion around them and felt the hangar collapse on top of them.

There was no pain. Rey only felt the blackness press in around her as she lost consciousness.

 _A/N- Oooooo those jerks. Rey was making such good progress and then the building just had to go and blow up didnt it? :_ P I'm _so excited right now! I've been planning this part since I started this crazy journey! I'm so glad all of you are excited too!_ Love _reading the comments! They make me so happy_ :3 -Ash


	12. Chapter 12

Rey had no idea where she was. All she saw and felt was a black void. She couldn't remember how she got here, or even where here was.

While she floated in the vast blackness, Rey could swear she heard a faint electronic chirping in the distance, but couldn't quite place a finger on what or where it was.

It wasn't until something large ran into her side that she was snapped back to reality, and realized the chirping had been coming from right beside her.

"BB-8." Rey muttered with a small smile and reached up to place a hand on him. "What are you doing here?"

BB-8 chirped excitedly and tilted his head towards her.

"Finn sent you to find me? Of course he did." Rey grunted as she moved to sit, realizing a bit belatedly that she was in pain due to a piece of rubble pinning her leg down. She sighed and force flicked it away before stumbling to her feet. "What happened?"

The droid chirped again and rolled a few feet away where a blue hand was peeking out from the rubble.

Rey raised an eyebrow. "An explosion?" An image flashes across her vision. Ben Solo taking her hand, but not to declare himself on his side, to protect her as the building collapsed around them. So that explained it, but also begged the question. Where was he? "Ben!? Where are you!?"

BB-8 chirped something about seeing a man run away from the scene as he approached, and butted up against the rubble again. Rey narrowed her eyes, wondering what he wasn't before it hit her like a slap in the face.

She and Ben hadn't been the only ones in the hangar.

Still a bit delirious, Rey stumbled towards the rubble pile and lifted it all at once with the force, tossing it aside and kneeling beside the Twi'lek to assess her injuries. "She's still alive… doesn't seem to be too badly hurt…" Did Ben protect her as well?

"BB-8! Where are you? Did you find her?" Poe's voice came shouting through the comlink Rey now noticed the droid had, and she caught it when he fired it at her.

"Poe. I'm here. Where are you?"

"Close to the hangar, but we're cut off! Too many damn troopers. Are you okay? Did you find Kylo Ren?"

Rey nodded and sighed even though he couldn't see her. "Yeah I found him. He was going after Zavroc. I'm not hurt but he escaped."

"Good. I'm glad you're alright. In that case, we could use some help. We only…" Poe paused to grunt. Rey heard a blaster fire close to him and could only assume he'd been attacked. "...made it halfway before being swarmed. The city guard are here but it's not enough!"

"Right. On my way." Rey handed the comlink back to BB-8 and glanced down at the girl. "You'll be alright. Help will come." She knew she couldn't hear her, and spoke mostly to reassure herself that leaving wouldn't kill the girl.

She took a second to inspect her lightsabers for damage, and once she had decided they were fine, took off back towards the casino with BB-8 whizzing along behind her.

It was clear that she hadn't been out for very long. Most of the way to the casino was littered with bodies and rubble, however the closer she got, the more troopers she saw. And there were still fighters in the air, now too caught in battle with city ships to pay attention to the ground. The only time any of them caused any damage to the ground was when they crashed.

Rey was lucky. There seemed to be a large battle going on in a square nearby and when she found a hiding place nearby to investigate, she could see Poe's head peeking out from behind a fallen door, occasionally shooting out when someone was in range.

"BB-8 stay hidden." She ordered the droid as she surveyed the battle and try to strategize her attack.ppl

BB-8 chirped worriedly, and tilted his head at her.

Rey smiled and activated one of her lightsabers. "Don't worry. I'm starting to get a hold on this force thing."

She heard him chirp again as she left their cover and ran into the battle. Most of the troopers were too busy engaged with city guards to notice her, but at the sound of her lightsaber swinging around, a few turned their attention to her, though she promptly shoved them away with the force push, having another target in mind.

Poe had stopped firing his blaster, leading Rey to believe that there was something wrong with the machine. She also had yet to see the General and could see several stormtroopers advancing on the cover he had hidden himself behind.

They were still a few feet away so by the time she reached them, the stormtroopers had surrounded him and Poe jumped up with a confident, "Aha!" before his blaster merely clicked uselessly when he pulled the trigger.

He seemed about ready to toss the weapon aside and launch himself at them, but Rey had already run one of them through and shoved the others aside seemingly effortlessly.

"Man am so glad to see you." Poe grinned at her. Now that she was up close, she could see blood dripping down his face.

"Where is the General?"

"Down here." Leia said from behind Poe's little barricade.

Poe frowned down at her. "She got hit in the leg. Can't walk and we got cut off. Not to mention this." He huffed and tossed the blaster aside. "I'll need to steal one from… oh kriff."

When the look of fear crossed Poe's face, Rey realized the fighting around them has stopped and the victors had surrounded them, all pointing blasters their way. Rey was confident that she could take them by herself, but not if she had to protect Poe and Leia as well.

"Uh, Rey…"

Rey snapped her gaze to where Poe pointed. There were more troopers turning the corner towards them. Now they were really outnumbered.

Rey hissed under her breath and dropped down into a fighting stance. "Get her up, Poe. Be ready to run."

"Are you going to fight them?"

"Unless you want to die here, then yes."

"Are you insa-"

"Poe." Rey snapped her gaze towards him. "You guys want me to be a Jedi, then let me be one. A Jedi's duty is to protect. That is what I intend to do."

The silence that passed while the storm troopers got into position felt much like the ones that happened between her and Ben whenever she said something that made sense. Perhaps she was wiser than she thought.

"Rey is correct." Leia surprisingly agreed with her as Poe held her up. "But we won't abandon you. We should get to the ship quickly. Just hold on long enough for us to come get you."

Rey nodded and turned her gaze back to the troopers. "Wait until I clear a path."

"Halt!" A trooper behind her had stepped forward, prompting Rey to spin around and brandish her lightsaber at him. But he wasn't what caught her eye. Standing behind the crowd, about ten feet away, was Ben. Looking bruised and bloody but staring at her intently. "Surrender, Jedi, and we will call back the attack on this city!"

Rey decided to ignore him. Ben was in front of her again. This was another chance to win him over, and this time it mattered more than ever. She needed his help.

Rey took a deep breath and focused on their bond, intending to shoot her thoughts through directly to him.

'Vader abandoned the darkside to protect his family.' Even from his distance she notice him stiffen when she brought up his Grandfather once again. 'He saw his family about to die and gave up everything he had to save him.'

Rey gave one glance around and saw Leia turning to face Ben like she was.

'Poe's blaster is broken. Your mother is injured and I can't take on all of these men by myself. We will die here, if you don't help us.' She turned her gaze back to him and mentally stretched out her hand to him once again. 'You fought beside me once before. Fight with me again.'

Time seemed to slow down. Rey watched the stormtrooper that had ordered their surrender raise his hand to order the rest to fire on them, but a red light erupted from his chest. As it disappeared, he fell and the rest turned towards the culprit. Ben was left standing with his lightsaber activated.

He had chosen her.

"Poe get her out of here!"

All at once, time snapped back to its normal pace for her. While the stormtroopers turned on Ben, Rey force lifted the piece of debris that Poe and Leia had been hiding behind and shot it out at the other side of the circle. It pushed and crushed any troopers in its way and cleared a path for them to escape.

Some troopers attempted to stop them, but Rey engaged them herself, distracting them while Poe and the General ran. She did her best to merely knock them out of her way, but some put her into a position where she had no choice but to cut them down.

There were maybe thirty of them left. The last time they had fought together, the enemy count had been about ten, but those had been incredibly advanced royal guards. Not regular stormtroopers. Now that Ben was fighting with her, there was a chance they could get out if this alive.

It wouldn't be easy though. Within only a few minutes, Rey had been driven back to the center of the fight, her back pressed against Ben's while the troopers shot at them.

"Focus on the blaster bolts!" He yelled at her amongst the chaos. "Try to deflect them back into the troopers!"

From her angle she couldn't see what Ben was doing, but could estimate from the screams of the troopers that he was taking them down one by one.

Unfortunately, Rey still had yet to master the art of deflecting bolts, and had less luck then he did. Eventually she felt him pressing them to turn, and could hardly object when he grabbed her arm and pulled her to where he had stood, effectively switching their positions.

"Take care of the last ones of that side! I'll handle these ones."

There were only a few left standing from him deflecting their bolts, maybe ten, and Rey pushed off from Ben to run at them, belatedly pulling her second lightsaber out and attaching the two together to get her double sided weapon ready to go by the time she reached them.

Now she was really in her element. The troopers fell one by one as her survival instincts kicked in.

One.

Two.

Three. Four.

By the sixth stormtrooper, Rey heard Ben shout something from the other side of the square and turned to see him with the same amount of enemies as her.

Allowing herself to be distracted was one she knew he would chastise her for later. One of her troopers came at her with a melee weapon, and used her distraction to knock her over and make her stumble. Rey felt her grip on her lightsaber falter and she finally dropped it when one of them landed a shot on her side with her blaster.

In a last ditch attempt to take down her enemies, Rey used the force to try to pull her weapon back to her, but stumbled and fell, the momentum only bring the lightsaber flying over her head instead of into her hand. Luckily, it did take out one more stormtrooper before automatically deactivating somewhere that she couldn't see.

"Cuff her!"

Rey cursed to herself and tried to push herself up, remembering how Ben had still managed to keep fighting on Starkiller after Chewie had shot him in the side. She knew with the amount of pain she was in, that her movements wouldn't be very coordinated, so Rey kicked out blindly and hugged her hands to her chest to keep them out of reach.

One of the troopers kicked her in the side and Rey screamed as she fell over. There was a tug on her bond with Ben before the cuffs snapped over her wrists and the world went silent. As if it was her connection to the force that was being restrained rather than her physical body.

"Traitor!" One of the troopers grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her upwards into a seated position. Rey was both aware of Ben, now standing alone amongst the bodies of his enemies as he stared at them, as well as the two blasters pointed at her head.

Only three stormtroopers still stood, and now they were using her against Ben.

"Hand over your lightsaber, Kylo Ren. Or she dies."

With the cuffs cutting off their bond, Rey couldn't tell what he was thinking, but recognized the expression on his face. It was the same one he wore just before killing Snoke, only much more certain of himself.

He deactivated his lightsaber and took a few steps forward. Rey winced as the trooper holding her by her hair tightened his grip. "One more step and we shoot her. Throw it to us."

Ben's eyes flicked back to her and Rey didn't need their bond to know what he was thinking. "My name is Ben." He said before tossing the lightsaber towards them. It landed a few feet in front of her.

One of the two stormtroopers who had been holding a gun to her head stepped forward to grab it, but it shot away from him before he could. Straight into Rey's hands.

There was nothing the handcuffs could do to stop her from activating the weapon, and when she did she swung it sideways, taking out the stormtrooper and yanking her free of the other ones grasp while she twisted her body around to slice at him as well.

Two of them fell to her and the other one was hit in the head by a large rock that Ben force pushed at him.

Ben was at her side in an instant. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"

Rey nodded and accepted his hand when he offered it to her to help her up, grimacing along the way. He took his lightsaber from her and sliced the handcuffs off easily. It was like finally taking a breath after being underwater. The force rushed back into her and the comforting presence of their bond made her feel like she could take on the world. "You saved me."

Ben force pulled her lightsaber over to him and detached the two halves in order to holster them back on her back. He didn't meet her eyes as he responded. "You told me not to let my family die."

The heat in her cheeks was enough to distract her from the warmth spreading from her wound as she bled. Ben was the one to break the silence as he came to her side and wrapped his arm around her. "We need to get you out of here. Which way is the Falcon?"

Rey pointed in the direction Poe and Leia had gone. "That way."

The walk to the ship was slow and silent, with Rey focusing on trying not to give in to the pain or lean on Ben too much and him trying to keep her upright. The further they went, the less stable she felt as her blood poured from her body.

It felt like an eternity before the ship finally came in to view. Finn and Poe were standing outside waiting for her, blasters in hand and ready to fire.

Finn noticed them first. "Rey!" He stopped a few feet away and pointed his blaster at Ben's face. "What are you doing here?"

"Finn, no. Don't shoot!" Rey yelled as loud as she could as her energy waned.

Ben, meanwhile, was frowning at him. "FN-21… Sorry. Finn. Rey is hurt. Help me get her to the ship!"

It seemed Finn didn't know how to respond to that, so after a minute he lowered his blaster and came to Rey's other side. With both of them helping her, Rey didn't feel like she needed to do anything.

She saw Poe run up the ramp into the ship and heard the thrusters start kicking into gear. But Ben disappeared from her side when the reached the ramp and Rey had to stop Finn from carrying her the rest of the way to turn back to him. "Ben. What are you..?"

"I'm not going with you."

Her eyes widened and she pushed away from Finn, only to stumble and be caught by him again. "What? But you…" A stubborn look crossed Ben's features. Rey knew that look. She'd seen it on his mother. "Finn go inside."

"What? But you need to.."

"Go inside! I'll be right there."

Her friend didn't seem inclined to argue once she had raised her voice. He made sure she was steady on her feet before releasing her and heading up the ramp into the ship.

When Rey tried to get back to Ben, she stumbled and fell, forcing him to catch her and sigh. "We need to work on your deflecting skills."

"Why aren't you coming? I thought you chose me?"

Ben brushed some hair back from her face and looked at her sadly. "You want to destroy the First Order, don't you? You agree with me about not helping either side but don't want your friends to die. We could just run away but they would just keep blowing each other up and nothing would be solved."

She bit her lip and nodded. That was exactly what she wanted, but she wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"We killed all the stormtroopers who knew I betrayed them. So I'm still the Supreme Leader. The way I see it, the best way to destroy the First Order is from the inside. Sabotage missions, and convince the soldiers to rebel. The stormtroopers at least might. They didn't choose this life."

Rey could see his logic. It all made sense, but she didn't like the idea of him going back again. Not when she finally had him. "You want to spy."

"Essentially." Ben nodded and placed a hand on her cheek. "I won't join the rebellion, but I will keep you alive. If that means destroying the First Order and, as you say, abandoning the dark side, then so be it."

She frowned at him and placed her hands on his hips. Partially to hold him and partially to keep herself steady as the world began to swim. "Don't die."

"I won't. If I'm caught, I will escape and come to you. I promise." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers again. This kiss felt more soft than the other two. While they had been rough and desperate. This felt loving and sad. Like he wanted to go with her, but was having to send her away. When they broke apart, her pressed his forehead to hers and took a deep breath. "You have to strike me, Rey. Make it seem like I came after you and you defeated me again." As he spoke, he pulled one of her lightsabers off her back and activated it before handing it to her and stepping away. "Try to avoid the face this time?"

She had to give him a small smile at that comment, and took a deep breath, mustering up what remaining energy she had to twist the lightsaber in the air and slice Ben clean across his chest, sending him falling backwards.

Rey fell backwards as well, and she felt Finn catch her before she landed and pull her onto the ramp. "Poe, get us out of here!" He shouted as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the ship. The floor shifted as Poe and Chewbacca brought them into the air and took off.

Finn found a couch in the common room and set her down in order to start looking for what he needed to patch her up with BB-8's help. "So what. Are you two together now or something?" He commented as he cut open her shirt in order to start cleaning the wound on her side.

Rey sighed and shook her head. "That's a good question."

 _A/N: Whew! Another long one! Finally Rey suceeds! Yay! But I wonder how Ben intends to destroy the First Order from the inside? Hmmmm._ _Thanks for the continuing support! -Ash_


	13. Chapter 13

They were back for no more than two days before Zavroc and his men showed up, guided by a collection of ships that Poe and the remaining pilots had repaired.

Rey had passed out from blood loss on the way back from Hoth, and slept for most of the first day back. It had been hours after that before the repaired medical droids released her from the infirmary.

And so she found herself on the Falcon in its hangar, curled up on the couch with a blanket over her shoulders watching Chewbacca clear out a drawer so he could get at the wires behind it. Once again finding solace within the ship's hull. This time she was escaping from Poe and Finn, who would undoubtedly want her attention so they could interrogate her about Ben. Only Leia knew what had been happening between them.

Chewbacca mumbled something and turned to look at her over his shoulder, holding a metal sphere in his hands.

She raised an eyebrow at him. The sphere looked robotic. With various knobs and do-dads all over its surface. "What's that?"

The Wookie spoke louder this time and tossed it to her.

Rey caught it easily and turned it over in her hands. "A training droid?"

He nodded and turned back to what he was doing while he explained.

"Luke used it to practice with his lightsaber?" Rey shrugged the blanket off and stood, looking over the droid for some kind of on switch. She found one that might be it, and pressed it. The droid whirred to life and flew from her hand, hovering a few feet above the ground in front of her. Rey pulled one of her lightsabers free and glanced at Chewbacca. "How does it work?"

The droid seemed inclined to answer itself. Before Rey could react, it shot a tiny blaster bolt at her, hitting her clean in the shoulder. It wasn't strong enough to break skin, but it still hurt and Rey let out a curse as she flinched.

Chewbacca chuckled and tossed her something else from the drawer. It looked like a pilot helmet, but with the eye guard painted over. Rey frowned and put it on. She couldn't see a thing. "What is this supposed to do? I can't even see." She paused to let Chewie answer, then lifted the helmet to raise an eyebrow at him again. "Trust the force? You sound like a Jedi."

He chuckled again and closed the drawer to stand and walk to another section that needed some work, muttering something else as he went.

"Obi Wan…" That was right. Obi Wan had trained Luke on the Falcon bit before his death. Chewie had told her that when reminiscing about the past. He wasn't here to repeat the lesson with her, but Chewbacca could tell her what he said. "Right." Rey placed the helmet back over her eyes and held her lightsaber at the ready.

It was impossible to follow the droid's movements without her sight. There were several more instances where it shot and hit her. Once even hitting her side which hurt more than the others as her wound was still tender.

Eventually, Rey stopped and took a deep breath, focusing her energy on the force. Ben's words rang through her head again.

'Trust the force. It will tell you if you're in danger.'

Rey flicked her lightsaber to the side, and felt something hit it briefly. She moved it to the other side and felt it again. And again. And again.

Now she seemed to be getting the hang of it. Let the force guide you. Listen to the sounds of the droid firing and move accordingly. Was it that easy?

A sharp pain in her leg told her otherwise, and Rey let out a curse, reaching down to grab it. She would definitely need more practice.

"Rey." At the sound of Finn's voice, Rey lifted the helmet off her head and turned to see him standing by the entrance of the room, with Poe behind him. "Are you sure you should be training right now? You just left the infirmary."

She huffed and deactivated her lightsaber, narrowly dodging another blast from the droid. Rey had to snatch it out of the air and deactivate it as well before it hit her again. "I got hit in the first place because I can't block blasters. Practicing is more important."

"Right." Finn seemed reluctant to agree, but Rey knew both he and Poe had other things on their mind. They weren't here to chastise her for training after an injury. "So. When were you planning to tell us about Kylo Ren?"

"Ben." Rey sighed and sat her lightsaber on the nearby table before taking a seat and sighing. "His name is Ben." She corrected as she pulled off the helmet and set it aside.

"You're using his real name." Poe was pushing his way past Finn and into the room to sit next to her. "Leia was right. You are close to him."

"You spoke to her?" She leaned her elbows on the table and raised an eyebrow at them.

Poe nodded with a sad smile and sighed. "She gave us a brief explanation. Something about a force bond? She suggested we talk to you directly if we want answers."

"And I think we deserve some." Finn added with a frown as he stared at her intently. "What's going on Rey? You've been acting strange since Crait. How long has this been going on?"

Rey gave a small laugh at that question. "Since before then. It started when I was with Master Luke. I…" There was a small ripple in the force, and Rey glanced over to see Ben laying shirtless on the medical bed on the other side of the room. He was grimacing, but turned to look at her once the connection was made. No doubt there was a medical droid on his end tending to the large wound she had left on his chest on Kal'Shebbol. Already she could see the scar forming.

"Rey…"

His voice was soft, and Rey sighed, shaking her head. "Now is really not a good time, Ben."

"Wait. Is he here?" Rey watched Poe stiffen at the thought and sighed again.

"No. I mean yes. Kind of. It's… hard to explain. I guess… it would be hard to understand if...you don't know the force. I still don't really."

Ben had apparently waved the droids away, and was sitting up on the bed. "There are others in the room?"

She nodded to him and ran a hand through her hair. "Yes. Poe and Finn. They came for answers."

There was a pause. "Poe Dameron?"

Rey raised an eyebrow once again. "Yes."

Ben frowned and stood. "I see."

"I have to admit, Rey." Poe muttered as another silence fell. "Whatever you're thinking, I don't like the idea of you being connected to Kylo Ren through the force."

"Ben." Rey corrected him again and stood as well, taking a few steps towards Ben.

"It will take me awhile to see him as anything other than Kylo Ren. No matter what you say." Poe had his eyes narrowed. It was the first time Rey had ever seen such a negative expression on his face outside of battle. "He and I have… history."

"Ren tortured him in Starkiller." Finn provided the answers for Rey when Poe trailed off. "It's because of the information he got from him that he knew BB-8 had the map to Skywalker."

That would certainly put a damper on any attempts she would make to convince them to trust him. Rey pursed her lips and turned to Ben. "You tortured Poe?"

He frowned back at her in return. "The same way I tortured you. With the force. He wasn't… able to resist me like you were." There was guilt written all over his face. As if he was suddenly aware of how wrong everything he had done was. "I expect it won't be worth much but… tell him I'm sorry."

But Poe raised a hand before she could speak. "I don't get this force bond thing, but I understand enough to know that right now we're listening to one side of an entire conversation. And I can guess what he's saying. If it's an apology, then tell him he's going to have to do better than that." He let out a deep sigh and ran a hand down his face before standing. "Let's start with this. After what Finn witnessed on Kal'Shebbol, is it safe to assume that you trust him?"

She clasped her hands behind her back and pushed her chin out. "Yes. I do. He had plenty of opportunities to kill me. I'm still here."

Finn pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on, and came to stand beside Poe. "So what, is he on our side now?"

Rey nodded confidently. "Yes. He is."

"And you're sure about that?"

A simple yes didn't seem like a sufficient answer. If she wanted their confidence, she would need more. "If you don't want to trust him, then fine. Both of you have reason not to. Try trusting me instead. I believe that the only way to end this war is with his help, and I know he will help."

The two men glanced at each other and, after a moment, nodded in unison. Poe spoke for them. "Then we're with you, Rey."

Rey had been avoiding this conversation because she had feared their rejection. Her two closest friends, besides Leia. She didn't know what she would do if she had lost them. She should have had faith in them. It went better than expected. "Thank you."

That seemed to be the end of the conversation, with Poe and Finn smiling at her hesitantly and Rey trying not to beam at their acceptance.

A thought occurred to her, however. A way to further convince them on Ben's intentions, that went beyond blindly trusting her faith. "Now that you know about him though, there is one more thing you should know. All of you, the entire resistance, has decided to believe that I am responsible to Snoke's death. That I killed him. You're wrong."

They glanced at each other again, this time in confusion.

Rey smiled. "It wasn't me. It was Ben."

 ** _A/N- Whew I'm sorry that took so long guys! Work got a bit stressful and I kinda struggled with this one lol. The next chapter should be veeeeery interesting :D Expect a bit of comic relief too._**

 ** _I've_** ** _been watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars and learning a lot about the lore. It's been giving me ideas for how I want this story to progress. I'm so excited!_**

 ** _It_** ** _might take me a while to update but promise I won't forget about this! I'm too in love with this story to leave it unfinished 3_** ** _-Ash_**

 ** _Update: Someone in the comments mentioned that Rey never took her helmet off! That has been fixed now lol. Thank you!_**


	14. Chapter 14

**_Ben_**

Ben had no idea how he was going to destroy the First Order.

Ben. It still felt weird referring to himself with that name. The only people that had in years were his parents and Rey.

And then there was Rey herself. His entire life was confusing now because of her. She had managed to get into his head like nobody else. Not even his father. Was it just because of what she was saying? How they were meant to balance the force together, or was it more?

He had no idea. All he knew, all that was clear to him, was that he couldn't bear the thought of her dying, and was willing to do anything to prevent that.

But how? She would charge in battle whether he wanted to or not, so the only way he could keep her safe was to follow her, but how could he ensure that she got out of this alive? How could he destroy the First Order for her?

Ben let out a sigh when he entered his quarters and ran a hand down his face. Another long day of training and listening to Hux ramble on about destroying the 'loathsome' Resistance. Trying to keep his head on his shoulders while he plotted against the man.

He tossed his lightsaber onto a nearby table and turned towards it to start removing his armor. There was a ripple in the force but by now Ben was used to it. He knew what it meant and didn't need to turn to know that Rey was now in the room with him.

It had been a few days since he last saw her, talking to her friends. Nearly a week since he came to his senses and promised himself to her.

There was also them to contend with. Her friends. Finn and Poe. Both had more than enough reason to hate him, but if she planned to stay with them after all of this, they would all have to learn to at least tolerate each other. He knew that he was willing to do anything for her, but Poe, at least, was stubborn enough to hold hatred against him.

He had, after all, managed to resist every form of torture they had used against him until Ben himself had come in to talk to him.

Ben heaved another large sigh and ran a hand down his face. Rey mumbled something softly behind him, and he turned to see her laying on his bed, curled up with her eyes closed. She was sleeping.

He pursed his lips and walked over to her. Their connection had never activated while one of them was asleep before. When he leaned down to brush some hair out of her face, he saw her eyebrows furrowed and her lips pressed together in a grimace. Her entire body was tense. Rey was having a nightmare. No wonder their bond was active now.

He took a deep breath and lowered himself to the floor beside her, fingers playing in her hair as he watched her breathe. She seemed to relax under his touch.

"Seeing the way you look at her really makes me believe she succeeded in saving you."

Ben jumped and turned, staring wide eyed up at the young man who had spoken. Something about him reminded Ben of his own appearance, with the long hair and the eye shape. "Who are you?" He noticed a little belatedly that the man was a bit transparent.

The force ghost smiled and lowered himself to the ground so he could sit cross legged across from Ben. "My name is Anakin Skywalker."

Ben's eyes widened. "Anakin… as in Darth Vader? As in…"

"Your grandfather. Yes."

He closed his eyes and turned away, leaning back on the bed in disbelief. "You… I called to you so many times. I asked for your guidance. Why are you only coming to me now?"

Anakin's smile fell and he folded his hands in his lap. Ben noticed he looked far too young to be Darth Vader. Had his ghost reverted back to before he put on the mask? "I have always been watching you, Ben. I've listened to your words when you spoke to me. But… there was nothing I could have done for you before. I could not have given you the answers you wanted back then."

"What answers would you have given me?" Ben narrowed his eyes. He still couldn't believe this was real. Maybe he was dreaming. Maybe he would wake up soon.

The man met his eyes and frowned. "You went down the wrong path, Ben. I do not blame you for your actions, but I wish you had been wiser. Watching you follow in my footsteps was… painful."

He pressed his lips into a thin line and glared. "You tell me this now?"

"There was nothing I could have done to save you before."

"You could have stopped me! I've slaughtered entire villages! I've destroyed planets! I have the blood of billions on my hands! I'm a monster!"

Rey's hand brushed against the back of his neck as she shifted in her sleep and Ben snapped his gaze back to her. She was tense again, no doubt a result of his shouting, so he touched her cheek lightly and frowned. "How can I be worthy of her when I've done so many terrible things? If watching was painful, why didn't you stop me?"

There was a pause in which Anakin took a deep breath before speaking. "I wondered that myself. How could I be worthy of the woman I loved? I was unfortunate enough to allow myself to be seduced enough so that she couldn't save me, and that led to her death." Anakin paused again and Ben turned back to see him gazing down at his lap. "I have been where you were, Ben. I understand the powerful hold the darkside can have on you if you let it. Padme… your Grandmother, tried so desperately to bring me back, but in the end I failed her. I didn't want to go back. Months ago, you were the same. You didn't want to go back. If I had tried to convince you, I would have only failed. There was only one person who could hope to save you. Her." He lifted his head and nodded towards Rey.

Everything he was saying made perfect sense, and yet was confusing all the same time. It was a similar feeling to how he felt with Rey. She felt right, and strange all at once.

"I had hoped that history would not repeat itself with the two of you. I am glad it didn't. Perhaps now, finally, the cycle can be broken." Anakin looked directly at Ben now, and smiled once again. "You have heard the stories about me, I presume?"

Ben huffed, but nodded. Anakin Skywalker was the chosen one. Born from nothing to be one of the most powerful force wielders in history. He would save the galaxy and restore balance. If he hadn't gone to the darkside instead.

Anakim gave a soft chuckle and continued. "The Jedi Masters told me that I was so powerful because I was born from the force itself. It created me to balance it, but I failed. Now it is trying again." His eyes shifted over to the sleeping girl and he stared at her so intently that Ben felt a slight rush to protectiveness. "She's like me, Ben. I can feel the power radiating off her. This time we must succeed. If not for the galaxy's sake, than for yours."

"What do you mean?"

Anakin's smile widened. "I mean she is your anchor. She is what will hold the darkness in you at bay. You need her. You fell down the wrong path, but Rey helped you find your way back. Stay on this path, and you will be forgiven. I am proud of you, son."

Ben felt a bit of pride swell up in his chest despite his anger towards the man. He decided to lean on the trust more than the anger, knowing if he fueled the anger, he might fall back to the darkness. His grandfather was proud of him. After everything he had done. After all the times all he had wanted was for someone to look at him with pride, Anakin Skywalker had finally sated that need.

Ben couldn't help it. His eyes welled up a bit. "Thank you."

 ** _Rey_**

Rey wasn't used to having nightmares. For as long as she could remember, she had only dreamt of islands in vast oceans and forests. Places that made her so happy she had wished she could dream all the time to escape the harsh sands of Jakku.

Unfortunately they were all places she had been to now, and so her dreams had faded, leaving her with only nightmares about everything she had witnessed since leaving her sandy rock.

At first she dreamt of things like Kylo Ren killing Han Solo, and the first time she took the life of a Stormtrooper. Now she dreamt of her friends. Losing them or watching them suffer.

Tonight she dreamt of Ben. Young Ben, sleeping in his chambers at what she could only assume had been Master Luke's temple before he destroyed it.

It started off peaceful. Rey sat beside him, her fingers playing with a lock of his hair while she watched him breathe. He looked so calm and innocent. This was before the world had ruined him.

Rey couldn't be sure how long she sat there, staring at him, but it ended when he opened his eyes. So dark and yet so full of light. Luke had been wrong to assume he had been taken by the Dark side. Even though she was dreaming, Rey was still vaguely aware of that fact. She wondered how he could possibly see her, meeting her eyes and staring at her with the same intensity that she recognized from current day Ben.

And then his eyes shifted upwards and behind him. Rey hadn't noticed Luke standing there, but now that she did, it was impossible to ignore him. He had a demanding presence. She saw the determined looked in his eyes as he wielded his lightsaber, but watched his face go soft as Ben turned to grab his own lightsaber to defend himself. He didn't see Luke change his mind.

The force of the betrayal Ben felt pushed her back, and Rey could only watch uselessly as Ben fell into darkness. She heard Luke cry out for him and then the building was collapsing in on them.

Rey woke with a start in her quarters, and pushed herself up to sit, burying her face in her hands. She was only distantly aware of Ben's presence on the other side of the room.

"You're awake?"

Rey grunted in response and nodded.

"What was your nightmare about?"

She didn't want to answer that. "You. And Luke."

There was a pause. "Oh. We've been connected for a while. It's never lasted this long."

Rey opened her eyes and spotted him on the other side of the room, looking very strange. She rubbed her eyes and squinted at him to make sure she was seeing correctly. He turned towards her, and all anxiety fled from Rey's body as she snorted.

Ben was wearing an orange wig, barely covering his dark hair. He had swapped his usual black robes for what appeared to be the uniform of a maintenance worker. He also had wide, framed glasses sitting on his nose. "What are you wearing?"

Ben frowned at her. "It's a disguise. I'm Matt. The radar technician."

Rey snorted again. "Why?"

"I need to find a way to locate the storm troopers who want to defect, without revealing myself as a traitor."

"And that's your plan?"

He huffed and crossed his arms. "Well do you have a better one?"

Rey shook her head and shifted to the edge of the bed. "No. But Ben… you looked ridiculous."

He stared at her for a moment, then huffed again and pulled the wig off his head, allowing the black locks to fall around his face again. "I told him it wouldn't work." Ben grumbled, tossing the wig aside. Rey watched it disappear from her vision, no longer part of their bond.

"Who?"

Ben was in a process of shrugging off the uniform vest when he looked at her, paused as if debating whether or not to tell her, then shook his head and tossed the best aside as well. "It doesn't matter. How am I meant to do this? I can't start rambling on about rebellion without criminalizing myself. And as much as I'd like to boast about my power, I can't take on the entire First Order."

"Not all at once." The blanket fell off her as Rey stood and walked over to him, lifting a hand to brush some hair from his eyes as the force tingled around them. "I like the black more."

For a second, Rey swore she saw a touch of a blush and embarrassment, before Ben regained his composure and stepped away, running a hand through his hair. He may have taken off the vest, but he still wore the button up shirt and pants of the uniform and Rey had to admit, she liked that look on him. Less menacing than the black.

"What about you? How are you going to get the Resistance to stop… I don't know… being the Resistance I guess?"

Rey frowned and leaned against the table that sat in the centre of her room. It was one of the only few pieces of furniture she had. "I've thought about that. But I have no idea. The only way I can see it is to just ask them to stop fighting. Leave destroying the First Order to us, and go back to their families. Leia might go for it but…"

"Poe probably won't."

She nodded when he finished her sentence. "He may have agreed to trust me about you, but to stop fighting completely? Poe is a soldier at heart. He won't like that idea."

There was a pause, before Ben came over to where she stood and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Well we certainly have found ourselves in something big, haven't we?"

Rey smiled up at him. "Well you did this to yourself. I am the only one who ended up here by accident."

"By accident?" Ben raised an eyebrow at her and almost gave her a smile. Almost. "You call destiny an accident?"

"Whatever it is, I'm still glad it happened." She reached up to touch his cheek. "Otherwise I never would have met you."

Now Ben did smile and it was like the stars were shining on him. It was amazing what lifting the corners of one's mouth could do for your appearance. He looked so much better than when he was scowling.

A happy Ben Solo. That was what the galaxy needed.

 ** _A/N - I know! I know. I did a thing and if what you're feeling is anything like what I'm feeling, then this is exciting! But I'm sorry to say, this is probaby the only time we will see into Ben's head._**

 ** _I_** ** _find us much more immersive to stick with one character, but I thought it would be nice to explore the parallels between Ben and Anakin, and Rey doesn't know much about Anakin beyond the stories about him as Darth Vader._**

 ** _Also, yes Anakin is the one who suggested the disguise. I figured since he's not Vader anymore, his playful side would start shining again!_**

 ** _-Ash_**

 ** _(Also if you haven't seen SNL's Kylo Ren sketch you definetly should. Matt the Radar Technician is a reference :P)_**


	15. Chapter 15

The weeks that passed after returning to Hoth were the most agonizing weeks Rey had ever endured. More agonizing than even the years spent starving on Jakku.

It was suffocating, being trapped inside the Resistance base when all she wanted to do was find Ben and stand beside him again. The real Ben. Not some force image.

Rey was getting restless and everyone close to her could tell. She spent almost all of her time in her hangar training, occasionally with Ben watching and critiquing through their bond. She even started venturing outside, something she hadn't done since going on that first excursion and deciding she didn't do well in the cold.

Not to say she went far. Sometimes when the weather wasn't bad and the snow wasn't high she walked until the base was just barely in view. Sometimes she just stood on top of the base and watched the sun move in the sky.

Anything to get her out of the stale air of the base.

They continued to plan. With Zavroc's forces now helping, more work had to be done to expand the base. Others tried to find more allies, and the rest strategitized both their attack and defense against the First Order.

Rey didn't see the point in it. Whatever ended up happening, it wouldn't be according to their plan, even if Rey ended up needing their help. But they didn't know that. Poe and Finn knew about Ben, but even they didn't know what they had planned.

If it could be called a plan.

"Are you outside?"

Rey jumped a little at the sudden voice and turned to Ben with a glare. She hadn't noticed him appear.

He, in turn, turned to meet her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "It's freezing."

She huffed and pulled her hood up. Obviously she was outside. She was wearing a coat. "Yes. I am. How long have you been there?"

"You didn't feel the bond?"

"No." Rey buried her hands in her pockets and shook her head. "I guess I'm just used to it now. I don't notice it anymore."

Ben shrugged and stepped a little closer to her. "I've been here for a few minutes."

Rey had once wondered if their silences would ever become comfortable rather than awkward. As it turned out, she had been right. They both stood there quietly. Rey staring at the sunrise and Ben looking at whatever he was doing.

There were times when Ben and Rey were able to almost have fun together. Usually during training. He even graced her with an occasional smile. But most of the time they sat in simple silence. Just enjoying one another's company.

It was relaxing.

Rey shivered and buried her hands in her pockets. "I hate Hoth…" She muttered into her scarf. "Almost makes me miss Jakku. Almost."

Ben let out a deep chuckle and she saw him shake his head from the corner of her eyes.

"I've been making progress with the troopers." Rey turned her head to see him staring at her again. "I planted a few notes and holograms about Hux to try and steer them towards rebelling. They are gathering by themselves. Soon I'll reveal myself to them, and we'll make a plan of attack."

Rey took a deep breath. That was the closest thing they had gotten to a plan since Kal'Shebbol. "They don't know it's you feeding them info?"

"No." Ben gave a small chuckle and the corners of his mouth pulled up into a smile. "Hux knows that someone has that information about him though. Some who are still loyal reported it. He's furious. It's honestly amusing to watch him."

Seeing him smile always made Rey smile as well. It was infectious. "What kind of information is it?"

"Just some things about his past. Incriminating things" Ben shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. Rey realized he was wearing comfier clothes than usual. Loose pants and a shirt that hung limp from his shoulders. He still wore his usual garb when going about his business as Supreme Leader, but in his free time was wearing more casual clothing. "There are a few murder charges against him, in which the victims are trooper families. People who fought when the First Order tried to take their children. I also found the names of all the people who died when Starkiller destroyed the Republic and planted those. Billions. Hux gave that order. With the names released, it's been weighing heavily on people."

Rey glanced up at him and frowned, seeing the way his brows furrowed. "Including yourself."

"I helped." Ben sighed and shook his head. "Sometimes I wish I had been strong enough to find my way back by myself. Maybe then I wouldn't have done so many terrible things."

"You can't change what happened by wishing." She responded bluntly, turning fully to him. "All you can do now is everything you can to make up for it. And prevent yourself from causing more pain."

Ben sighed and nodded, lifting a hand to brush some hair from her face when the wind shifted it. "You look strange all bundled up. The cold doesn't suit you."

Rey chuckled and stepped a bit closer. "I couldn't agree more." She said as she pulled down the scarf that was shielding her face from the cold and looked up at him.

He met her eyes sadly. "I wish you were actually here."

"Me too." Rey lifted a hand to cover the one touching her cheek. She couldn't place a finger on it, but there was something different about touching through the force. She no longer saw his future like she did the first time they touched hands, but it wasn't like holding him in person. Although, it still felt right somehow.

His lips were on hers in a blur of motion. Rey hadn't even noticed him leaning down, but welcomed it gladly, gripping his shirt with her free hand.

The kiss started off slow and gentle. Almost hesitant as if they both still had no idea where they stood with one another. Rey herself pushed into it when she started to grow impatient with the pace, and she felt Ben wrap his arms tightly around her.

Apparently she wasn't the only one suffocating from the separation. Rey could practically feel his restlessness in the way he held her. So tightly and desperately. As if she was the only one in the entire galaxy that mattered to him.

Once again Rey found herself breathless because of him.

There was a sharp pull in the force, and Rey gave a gasp as she pulled away from Ben in shock.

Somehow, she was no longer on Hoth.

"You can see it, can't you?" Ben said after a moment of her looking around, his hands still on her waist. "Just like when I saw where you were on Kal'Shebbol."

Rey nodded as her eyes scanned the room. These had to be his quarters. There was a bed in the corner. A table by the door where his lightsaber sat. Another door that likely led to a refresher. It was unbelievably plain. Black and silver with no decorations. The room served a purpose. Nothing more.

She heard the whoosh of a door opening, and an unfamiliar voice speak as a man entered the room.

"Ren! Get dressed. We need too…" The redheaded man trailed off when he spotted Rey. If what she had been told about the General of the First Order, this was Hux. A man personally after Ben's downfall. She could already tell how smart he was. It was impossible to miss the gears turning in his head. "Is this…?"

Ben moved to stand in front of her, shielding her from Hux and the men behind him.

The General seemed to fit the pieces together immediately. "Traitor! Seize him!"

Rey swore to herself, but couldn't retaliate as Ben pushed her back and used the force to summon his lightsaber. As she fell to the ground, the last thing she saw was him activate the saber and go down into a fighting stance, before she hit the ground and closed her eyes in a grimace.

When she opened them again, Rey was back on Hoth, sitting atop the base with wide eyes.

Ben's cover had just been blown because Hux had seen her. He was now fighting for his life and there was nothing she could do to help him. Not when she had no idea where he was.

 ** _A/N- If any of you got two notifications about Chapter 15 being uploaded, it was lol. Something went wrong with the first upload so I had to do it again._**

 ** _The_** ** _next few chapters will be short but sweet. Expect one every day for a few days :D We are starting to get to the good parts! Wooo!_**

 ** _-Ash_**


	16. Chapter 16

"Rey… Hey, Rey!"

Rey snapped her eyes open when she felt familiar hands shaking her shoulders, only to find herself staring into the eyes of her closest friend. "Finn… what…"

Finn's eyebrows were furrowed. "Are you okay? You've been out here for hours. We thought you might have froze."

"Hours…" Rey's voice was quiet and she glanced around for a second, feeling entirely disoriented. It took her a moment to remember what had happened.

After being separated from Ben, she had found her body weak and unable to support her weight. So she had decided to fold her legs under her and meditate, hoping to locate Ben so they could go help him.

The attempt had been unsuccessful, she realized. Their bond was a whirlwind of power and chaos and it was impossible to discern where he was. All it told her was that he was still alive but that did little to soothe her worry.

Rey hadn't realized it had been hours. Whatever ended up happening with him was likely over now. She wouldn't be able to help him. "I'm okay." She finally answered, trying to push herself up. Her legs still felt a little weak. Apparently practically teleporting through the force took a lot of energy.

Finn's hand shot out to help and she gladly took it to stand up. "Just lost myself in thought I guess."

"Well that's good. Come on, can you walk. You need to come to the war room." Finn wrapped an arm around her waist to help support her as he started leading them to the door. "They're holding an emergency meeting."

"An emergency meeting? What happened?"

Finn pursed his lips. "I don't know. Poe just told me to get you."

When they reentered the base, they paused only to hang up the coats they had worn to shield themselves from the cold, before making their way to the war room.

The more they walked, the more Rey was able to support herself again. It seemed after hours of meditation, all she had to do was stretch out her muscles. So by the time they reached the war room, she was walking by herself again, with Finn only hovering protectively incase she fell.

It was full to the brink with Resistance fighters and a few ambassadors of Zavroc's forces.

In the center of the room, Leia stood next to the round table that was playing a holographic message on repeat. Rey couldn't hear what the girl was saying over the sound of Poe arguing with another Resistance fighter across the table.

"This is not some small task force. There are three fully armed First Order ships headed our way and we do not have the manpower or power to defend against them!" The man was saying as he glared at Poe. Rey weaved her way through the crowd to Leia as they shouted. "Even our shields are not fully functional yet. We must evacuate!"

Poe was glaring harshly right back at him. "We don't even know if they're going to attack!"

"What's happening?" Rey muttered quietly to Leia. She was incredibly confused and concerned. "If it's the First Order, how do we not know if they're going to attack?"

"They are waving the white flag!" Poe yelled to be heard over the crowd around them. Leia glanced at Rey and nodded. The white flag of surrender. That was why. "We should at least hear them out!"

The man smacked his hand on the table. "It almost certainly a trap! What if you're wrong? What if they do attack?"

Poe scoffed as if it was the most obvious thing. "Then we fight!"

"We don't have the numbers!" He stressed again.

"We have a Jedi!"

"They have a Sith!"

At that comment, Poe groaned and ran a hand down his face, catching Rey's eyes through the crowd. None of them knew about Ben. This might be the day they have to be told.

"How did they even find us?" Someone standing by Rey muttered as more arguing broke out.

Rey bit her lip uncomfortably. She had told Ben where she was before being found by Hux. It had been a mistake, a general comment that she didn't think he had caught. Maybe he did. But there was no way he could have betrayed her… right?

Even if Hux's men had managed to restrain him, he would never give her away. No matter what they did.

A hush fell over the room when a young boy burst in, panting and out of breath. "There's… three cruisers… just appeared." He struggled to speak through his breaths. Clearly he had run here. "They want to land… General. Come into… the hangar."

Leia opened her mouth to speak, but stopped and turned her head to meet Rey's eyes.

So she had felt it to. The twitch in the force. Ben Solo was here.

"Let them in." Rey ordered as she pushed through the crowd again, this time making for the door with a new sense of urgency. Ben's emotions were swirling around her. He was hurt and angry at something.

"Rey!"

"Let them in!" Rey repeated when Poe called her name, leaving the room without a word.

As she marched towards the main hangar, she could hear nearly the entire Resistance following behind. Distantly, she heard Poe speak an order into his comlink for them to open the doors.

By the time they reached the hangar, one of the ships was already making it's landing inside.

Rey pulled her lightsabers out and activated them by her sides, standing only ten feet from the ramp when it opened to let the passengers out.

"You idiot! Why would you bring us here!?" That was Ben's voice booming from inside the ship, but she couldn't see him just yet.

A stormtrooper backed into her view. "You were saying Hoth in your sleep, sir. It was the only place we thought…"

"Don't you realize how much danger you've put them in!?" Now Ben stepped into the doorway. He was still wearing the same clothes as before, with the addition of a red stain on his side, which he held protectively. "What if Hux followed us!?"

"Sir…!"

"This is the last pla…" Ben trailed off when he caught sight of Rey. He took a step onto the ramp and said her name quietly. Rey heard the people behind her raise their blasters, but neither she nor Ben paid them any mind. "Rey…"

Rey deactivated her lightsabers and hooked them back into the holsters just in time to catch Ben when he stumbled down the ramp and fell into her. "Ben, what happened?"

"Sir, you should be resting!" The stormtrooper had followed him down the ramp. "You lost a lot of blood."

Ben ignored the trooper. "Hux declared me a traitor. I found the stormtroopers I had gathered and we escaped. But…" He grimaced and grabbed her shoulder. "Rey. You have to order an evacuation. We don't know if Hux followed us. I'm so sorry."

This wasn't happening. Rey knew the Resistance would want argues. Want to argue over what to do with Ben and the Troopers, but there wasn't time. If Hux had followed them, he wouldn't be far behind. "You need medical attention."

"We patched him up as best we could, but these ships don't have medical centres." The trooper explained, kneeling down and placing their gun aside.

"There's no time." Ben was starting to lean into Rey more. He was losing consciousness. "You have to leave."

Rey chose to ignore him. "How many troopers have you got with you?"

"About 100, ma'am. Plus a few others. Maintenance and administration."

She nodded and turned back to the crowd behind her. "Someone get a medic!"

Poe stepped forward looking a little hesitant with a blaster in his hands. "Rey, are you sure…"

"Poe." Rey snapped and narrowed her eyes. "Get a medic. He's hurt. Get some restraints on him if you're nervous."

He sighed and scanned the crowd before waving someone forward. Rey stood when the medical workers started to lift Ben up. "All high ranking officers come with me to the war room. You too." Rey looked at the stormtrooper and nodded to the door. "Leave the blaster and take your helmet off. You don't need it anymore."

The trooper hesitated, but stood with her and pulled their helmet off. Rey was almost surprised to see a woman underneath. Young, with blonde hair up in a bun.

While everyone started to leave, Rey saw Leia staring longingly at her son before turning and leaving. Poe charged everyone who wasn't a high ranking officer to restrain and guard the stormtroopers on the three ships.

Finn, meanwhile, jogged over to Rey and the girl, eyes glued to her. "FN-311. You came with him?"

Rey looked back at the trooper. She was the one from Kal'Shebbol.

FN-311 smiled. "FN-2187. It's good to see you."

"It's Finn now." Finn smiled and clasped hands with her. "I'm glad you're here. Rey, she was in my training group. We grew up together. That's why both of our numbers start with FN."

Rey held out a hand for the trooper to shake. "I'm glad you're here too."

"You spared my life." FN-311 said as she shook her hand. "I saw the darkness in your eyes and watched you get control over it. I've never seen anyone control the force like that. Not even the Supreme Leader. Either of them. When I heard there was a group gathering to plan an escape, I knew I had to get away. Find you. Your side is the one I want to be on. Not the First Orders."

If she were to be perfectly honest, Rey felt a little embarrassed at that admission. FN-311 had left the First Order, just to find her. It was a new kind of flattery. "Come on. We need to figure out what we're doing so we can leave." Rey turned towards the door and sighed. "I have a lot of explaining to do."


	17. Chapter 17

They were already squabbling again by the time Rey and the others arrived. Poe once again leading the argument when his arms crossed. "If we thought three ships was bad, we now have an entire army headed our way. We need to evacuate!"

"And if Kylo Ren is lying? What if the very thing they want is to get us on our ships, out of our secure base?"

"What if what they want is to tear us apart from the inside by making us fight against one another!" Poe snapped back at the man with his eyes narrowed.

The Admiral huffed and crossed his arms. "This is likely to be a trap."

"Everything is a trap in your eyes, Admiral."

His eyes shifted to Leia, standing again on the other side of the round table, and Poe's eyes followed. "What about you, General, what do you think?"

Leia's eyes widened at being addressed. Clearly she had been lost in thought. "I am surprised you would ask my opinion. If I am to be honest, I think it best for me to stay out of this decision as any opinion I have could be taken as biased. That man is my son. You all know what I am thinking."

"That man murdered your husband, General." The Admiral seemed to feel the need to remind Leia of Han's death. Rey watched her eyes narrowed.

"You don't have children, Admiral. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

Rey decided it was time for her to step in at that moment, crossing her arms as she walked up to the table. "So now you want to stay, Admiral. If I remember correctly, you were encouraging us to leave before they arrived because you didn't think we could handle them. Now you are encouraging us to stay? Can I kindly ask you to please make up your mind?"

The Admiral huffed and glared at you. "You are very bold to make such claims Jedi. When it seems to me that you could be a traitor yourself. Care to explain to us why you are suddenly so friendly with the enemy? We all saw what happened when they landed."

That was a good question, but Rey could hardly admit everything that had happened with her and Ben without them believing she had either succumbed to some trick, or were ready to betray them to be with her. "There are more things at work here than someone like you would understand.

"Like what?"

"The force."

The Admiral scoffed and rolled his eyes. "The force. You people reference that as if its the answer to everything."

Rey narrowed her eyes into a glare. "You name me Jedi and yet refuse to listen to my council about the force. How did a such a short-sighted man like yourself get to Admiral?"

"He was the only one still alive." Leia answered for him. Her eyes had narrowed as well, and it was a strange look on her face.

She nodded and leaned her hands on the table. "Right. Well listen to this, Admiral. This is how it is and you can disagree if you want but we are doing this my way from now on. General Organa is right. There is good in Kylo Ren. I sensed it in him almost immediately after he killed Han Solo, but couldn't accept it at first. Now I have, and while you all were trying to figure out how best to blow up The First Order, I was working on what would actually be our salvation. Saving Kylo Ren. As of now, I have succeeded, and will be taking it upon myself to end this war. All you have to do is trust me. You are the ones who decided I was your last hope."

He did not seem convinced, but everyone else had quieted down to listen to her. "Trust you? So what then? What is your plan?"

"Plan?" Rey stood from the table and started walking around it to him, slowly. "You want to hear my plan? Fine. With Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren, standing at my side, I will save everyone serving in the Resistance. I will attack the First Order. I will kill and or capture General Hux, depending on what he does. I will reclaim the Stormtroopers and return them to the service of the Jedi and then, I will destroy every First Order ship that exists and put and end to it once and for all." Rey paused in front of him, happily noticing that she was slightly taller than the man, allowing her to look down at him intimidatingly. "Once I am done, I will build a new Jedi order, restore balance in the force and protect the galaxy better than you lot ever have. Is that a good enough plan for you, Admiral?"

While she had been advancing, Rey watched the colour leave the man's face. He stared at her for a long moment after she was done speaking, seeming to try and regain his courage before finally breaking eye contact to look down. Rey had won. "May I ask how you intend to do this?"

Rey scoffed and turned away from him. "Let's start with getting off this rock. We sure as hell can't stay here. FN-311 said that they have about 100 Stormtroopers divided amongst their three ships. We will have to abandon them in case there are trackers. We will load the stormtroopers onto the cruiser that Zavroc provided. Half of our men should be more than enough to handle them if they decide to answer your fears and attack. The rest will man our other ships and protect the cruiser. I will take Ben, restrained, on the Falcon and we'll fly until we are safe or we have won. Any questions or objections?"

Poe, who had leaned himself against a nearby pillar while she was speaking, raised a hand. "I have a question." He stood and walked towards them, pointing at the stormtrooper behind Rey. "I don't like her name. Can we change it?"

Rey turned and stared at FN-311's surprised face. Both Poe and Finn moved to stare as well.

"You named me after the FN."

"We can't have two Finns."

Rey crossed her arms. "If we flipped the 3 over it would make an E."

Poe shifted his gaze to Rey. "F-N-E-L-L?"

She smiled at the stormtrooper. "Nell. Your name is Nell."

The newly named Nell smiled slowly and straightened up. "Nell. I like it."

 ** _A/N- That was probably the shortest one so far lol. And so FN-311 gets her new name!_**

 ** _The next chapter is going to be a bit emotional. At least that's what I'm going for! Get ready!_**

 ** _-Ash_**


	18. Chapter 18

It took them nearly half a day to fully prepare for the evacuation. The Stormtroopers were restrained and loaded onto the cruisers. Poe took charge of their fighters to escort it to the atmosphere. The rest packed up their equipment and kept their sensors active to watch for enemy ships.

Since she had apparently taken charge of the evacuation, Rey spent the first few hours overseeing the preparations, unfortunately her concern for Ben soon took over, so she found herself heading towards the infirmary instead.

Surprisingly, Leia was standing outside the room, her hands folded in front of her and her head down. When Rey approached, she lifted her head and looked at her with wet eyes and a sad smile. "I am trying to resist going in to see him. I know he doesn't want to."

Rey sighed and took Leia's hand for a moment. "He doesn't want to see you sad because of what he did. I'll… let him know you're here."

Leia nodded and took a deep breath. "Thank you, Rey, for saving him. My little boy… he's finally come home because of you."

Rey frowned when Leia's voice broke a little, and nodded quietly before brushing past her and into the room.

Ben was laying on a bed on the opposite side of the room. It looked like the medical droids and workers were just finishing up with the stitching that would hold his wound together.

They had discarded his shirt, so she could see the raw wound easily. Surprisingly though, they hadn't restrained him.

"How is he?" She asked as she walked over to see him.

One of the workers turned to her as she snipped off the last of the stitching. "Stable. We're all done now."

Rey nodded and motioned towards the door. "Thank you then. Go help with the evacuation."

Once they were alone, Rey took a shaky breath and touched the skin outside the wound lightly. Already there were signs of bruising.

"Don't make that face Rey." She glanced up at his face to see him frowning at her. "This isn't your fault."

"He attacked you because he saw me."

Ben shook his head and took one of her hands in his. "He saw you because of the bond. I should have locked the door so he couldn't barge in like that. Honestly that was just rude. He didn't even knock."

Rey gave a short laugh and squeezed his hand. "At least you're here now."

"That's true. But my being here might also put you at risk."

"We"re evacuating. You'll be coming on the Falcon with me and Chewie."

At the sound of Chewbacca's name, Ben sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Chewie. The last time I saw that wookie, he shot me after I killed his best friend…"

"He's a good shot, Ben. If he wanted to kill you, he would have. Nobody blames you for killing your father."

Ben's voice broke a little, like his mother's had outside. "Except for me apparently."

Rey sat down in the chair next to him in the silence that followed and leaned into their joined hands. "Your mother is standing outside. She wants to see you but… is fairly certain you don't want to see her."

He bit his lip and stared intently at the ceiling for a minute in thought before finally answering. "I guess… I can't avoid her forever."

"You want me to let her in?"

He surprised Rey, and nodded, letting out a grunt as he moved to sit up. He swung his legs over the side to that his back was to the door, and waited there while Rey stood and moved to the door. "Rey. Just… stay with me. I don't know if I have the strength to face her alone."

Rey smiled softly at his back even though he couldn't see her. "Always." She had never had the opportunity to see his back fully. It was covered in scars and she spent a second wondering if they were from battles, or something else, before shaking it off and opening the door. That was a story for another time.

Leia didn't look up at the sound of the door opening, but Rey could see she was holding her hands tightly. "Leia." The General looked up at the sound of her name and Rey gestered into the room. "He wants to see you."

"Really?" Her eyes widened and brightened as if she couldn't believe it.

Rey nodded and held the door open for her. Leia stepped into the room eagerly, but froze at the sight of Ben.

He kept his back to her, as if trying to avoid her gaze, and Rey saw his hands gripping the edge of the bed tightly. She walked over to him and took one of his hands in hers. He seemed to relax at her touch.

It seemed to take an eternity for Leia to round the bed and stand in front of him. Even longer for his to raise his head and meet her eyes. Both were unbelievably nervous and cautious. Almost scared to frighten the other. Rey could feel all the emotions stirring around in the room.

Witnessing the reunion between a mother and her son was a wonderful thing. Rey watched Leia's hand reach up hesitantly to brush some hair from his face, as if she couldn't believe he was truly there.

She watched Ben's eyes soften and his mouth open to say, "Mom…" quietly. "I'm so sor--"

Ben's words were cut off when Leia pulled him into her arms suddenly, wrapping her arms tightly around her son's shoulders and burying her face in his neck. Rey could see his eyes wide and for a moment, he only sat there, frozen in shock.

Then, slowly, he let go of her hand, and wrapped his arms around his mother, pressing his face into her shoulder. Rey stepped back to give them a moment.

"My boy…" Leia sighed happily and rubbed Ben's back when his arms tightened around her. "Thank you for coming home. Rey… thank you for bringing him back to me." She reached a hand to hold Rey's, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Mom…" Ben muttered again. Even muffled by Leia's dress, Rey could hear the sadness. "Why don't you hate me?"

"Oh Ben." Leia let him go to hold his face instead. "A mother's love is the strongest force in the Galaxy. I may have failed you once, but I have never given up hope since then. Hope that there was still good in you. My son." She pulled his face down to kiss his forehead.

Now that she could see his face again, Rey noticed his eyes were wet as well. He squeezed them shut for a moment and placed his hands over his mother's before hugging her again.

Leia and Rey did not stay with Ben for long. Once preparations were almost complete, Leia was called to board one of the smaller ships, and the medical staff returned to get Ben ready to be restrained on the Falcon for the sake of the others. She knew he wouldn't attack anyway.

Rey, meanwhile, headed to the hangar that the Falcon was kept in, separate from the others. Chewbacca greeted her from atop the ship when she entered and she smiled at him and stopped to look up at him. "Can I help with anything?"

Chewie shrugged and shook his head as he spoke. Repairs were almost done. She should relax.

She huffed and turned to walk towards the open hangar door. All she was doing lately was relaxing.

It was a beautiful day on Hoth. Sunny and warmer than usual. Still, the sun glinted blindingly off the snow, and there was still a bite of cold that she felt through her coat. Rey would be glad to be rid of this planet. Even though they were leaving because they were in danger.

Once again, Rey found herself lost in thought, staring out at the snow of Hoth. She couldn't be sure how long she stood there, until something that felt strangely like the force brushed against her shoulder.

Rey flinched and jumped back, turning to see an old man looking oddly transparent.

He smiled and held up a hand. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I should have announced myself."

"Who are you?" It was the only thing she could think to ask, though she did have other questions. Why was he transparent? Was he a ghost?

"My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I trained your master, Luke." His smile reminded her of Leia's. Unbelievably kind and understanding.

So he was a ghost. From what she had been told by Luke and Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi was dead. Slain by Darth Vader. "I am here on behalf of the old Jedi Order. We heard your claim to rebuild it and reclaim the stormtroopers. I wanted to thank you."

That comment made her narrow her eyes. "I'm not rebuilding it. I'm making my own. Your Jedi order was broken. That's why it fell, and why Master Luke wanted it to end once and for all."

"The truth, she speaks." This voice spoke in a strange accent, and from lower down. Rey had to look down to see the tiny, transparent creature staring up at her.

"Rey this is Master Yoda. We have both been watching your progress." Obi-Wan introduced the former Jedi Master.

Yoda nodded in agreement and took a step towards her. "Lost ourselves, we did, in the Clone Wars. Claimed to be peacekeepers, we did. And yet destruction, we caused. Lost, was the balance. Restore it, you will, by creating a new order."

"Rey." Now a young man stepped forward, standing on Yoda's other side as he gazed at her with sad eyes that strangely resembled Ben's. "Thank you. For saving my grandson."

"Rey this is--"

"Darth Vader." Rey interrupted him as she stared at the man. He didn't look like the Darth Vader she had heard of. "Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin smiled and walked towards her until he was only a couple of feet away. Tall enough to make her look up at him instead of being at eye level. The same as Ben. "Rey. I'll say this bluntly. It was once my job to balance the force. I was the 'chosen one'. Born from the force to balance it. But I failed. I let the darkside consume me instead of balancing it with the light within myself. Now… now it's your turn."

"We can't do much in this state." Obi-Wan smiled brightly at Rey.

Anakin smiled as well. "But we will do everything we can to help you."

"Find the balance, you will. A better Jedi Order, you will build. Restore what we lost."

Rey heard them talk and glanced at them, but was focused on Anakin mostly. The intense gaze he was giving her was almost identical to Ben's.

"You can do this." Anakin said quietly with an understanding smile. "You don't want anyone to know, but you're scared. That's why you have nightmares. But you are the chosen one now. And you can do this." He lifted a hand to rest on top of her head. It was a strange mix between feeling like a physical hand and some apparition of the force. It made her eyes prickle with tears. "We will be with you every step of the way."

"Rey!" Finn's voice called for Rey's attention from the other side of the hangar. The Jedi disappeared as soon as her focus left them, leaving Rey to wonder for a moment if she had only imagined it. Though the force did feel strange now.

Finn was staring at her, with a couple of Resistance fighters helping to escort a now handcuffed Ben Solo onto the Millenium Falcon. Chewbacca was gone, but Ben still looked uneasy. "You okay? You look upset."

Rey sniffed and rubbed her eyes before walking over. "I'm fine. Are we leaving?"

Her friend nodded and looked out of the hangar. "The other ships are starting to take off. I'm coming with you on the Falcon right?"

She nodded and turned towards the ramp. "We need a gunner if we get caught in a battle with the First Order. There's room prepared for Ben in the cargo hold." Her eyes flicked back to Ben for a moment. There were obvious hints of his father in his face, but he looked so much like his grandfather.

 ** _A/N That's it! That concludes the prewritten chapters! Now we go back to the regular schedule. AKA, whenever I finish a chapter_** ** _xD_**

 ** _Hope_** ** _you all enjoyed the bulk updates! And thanks so much for the comments! They make my day!_**

- ** _Ash_**


	19. Chapter 19

They stayed in hyperspace for more than a few hours, putting as much distance between them and Hoth. Eventually an order came from the main cruiser where Leia was, telling them to stop and remain stationary while they discussed possible planets to base themselves. Again.

Finding little need to take part in the discussion, seeing as she didn't know of many planets, Rey stood once the ship was stable and the others had left hyperspace around them. "Think you can handle the ship for a minute, Chewie?"

Chewbacca nodded his head and spoke in a confused voice.

"I'm going to go check on Ben. Update him on our situation." His eyes turned sad and he looked back at the console. Rey sighed and moved towards the door, but paused and turned back to look at him. "Will you ever go see him?"

There was a second of silence, before Chewie spoke again without looking at her.

She nodded and frowned. "I understand. I won't force you." Rey left their conversation there and left the cockpit to start heading towards the cargo hold where they were keeping Ben.

Finn wasn't sitting outside the door guarding like he said he would be, but was lounging in the common room just down the hall. Rey was thankful for that. She wanted to be alone with Ben.

When the door slid open, she saw him leaning against a crate in the center of the room, his head leaned back over the top of the crate to look at the ceiling. Ben turned to look at her at the sound of the door and frowned. "It's ridiculously boring in here."

Rey gave a chuckle and closed the door behind her so that they could be alone. "I know. But it's necessary. Everyone is reluctant to trust you just because I do."

"Well I'm grateful you do at least. I didn't realize how miserable I was as a Sith." Ben sighed and sat up to meet her eyes when she sat in front of him. His hands were bound behind his back, so there wasn't much he could do. "Do you have any water?"

She nodded and pulled the bottle from her belt, unscrewing it and holding it up to his lips so he could drink. "We're out of hyperspace now. Your mother and the other officers are deciding where to go. But for now we seem to be safe. No First Order ships on our radar. We evacuated in time."

Ben took a deep breath once he was done drinking and leaned back against the crate again. "Well that's good. I'm sorry. I guess I passed out during the attack and was muttering about you in my sleep. They must have thought we'd be safe on Hoth. I wasn't there to tell them otherwise."

Rey shrugged and put the bottle away. "I shouldn't have told you where I was. It was my mistake."

He frowned at her and looked down at his lap for a second before glancing back up to stare at her intently. As if he disagreed. "You're amazing, you know?"

Rey scoffed and shook her head. "How am I amazing?"

"Look at yourself. You don't see it?" His frown deepened when she shook her head. "You came from nothing, Rey. A rundown planet covered in sand. No identity. No friends. No family."

"Wow that makes me feel wonderful. Truly."

"And yet now you've become the closest thing to a Jedi this galaxy has seen since before the Clone Wars." He ignored her snarky remark an continued. "You've made a name for yourself as the only hope for the galaxy whether you meant to or not. You saved _me_ , when even my own _father_ failed. You have almost single handedly orchestrated the end of the war between the light and the dark, _for good._ You are ensuring this war is the _final_ war."

Now Rey frowned as her cheeks heated up, whereas his eyes had lit up. "I didn't want to be a part of any of this. I even tried to run away at first."

Ben scoffed again and shook his head. "And yet you're here. Fighting not to help the Resistance to _win_ , but to ensure the people you love come out of this alive. You have found a family for yourself and even though you don't want to fight in this war, you are. _To save them_." He leaned as far forward as he could so their faces were only inches apart and repeated himself. "You're amazing."

It was up to her to close the gap between them, and after a second of registering what he was saying and connecting that to the fluttering in her stomach, she did. Since meeting the Resistance, people had complimented her but none of them had spent more than a few sentences doing so. Ben had given her an entire speech. Like he was desperate to convince her of how wonderful she was. Those words were more than enough to convince her to fall in love with him. Completely.

Rey kissed him more passionately than she ever remembered doing. The few kisses she had initiated had been short and sweet. This one was firey and needy. She needed him and now she was fully aware of that extent of that need. Like he was air and she was drowning.

At some point she ended up on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer. She felt his arms tense and heard him grumble something into her lips. "Damn chains."

Without even thinking about it, Rey waved her hand and the cuffs popped open. Almost immediately his hands were around her waist, one slipping under her tunic to rest against the skin of her back and the other holding her tight.

"Rey." Ben was muttering her name against her lips. When she ignored him, he shifted his hands to push against her slightly so that the kiss broke and he could meet her eyes. "Rey…" There was so much emotion in his eyes. Even if she didn't have their bond connecting them, she thought she might be able to see those emotions. Even still, the words that came out of his mouth shocked her, and judging by the way his eyes widened slightly, it shocked him as well. "I love you."

Rey didn't know how to react to that. She loved him too. Of course she did. It was obvious what was between them was more than just a force bond now. Kissing was not something friends did, at least in the way she understood friendship. They were falling in love and she had been fully aware of that fact since Kal'Shebbol. But to hear it out loud? For it to he laid out so plainly and bluntly in front of her? It left her speechless.

She reckoned it went a bit further than love though. She needed him. And she was pretty sure he needed her. They were two sides of the same coin. The only way this could end was with them standing side by side.

"I lo--"

"Rey!"

Rey gave a soft grumble and turned her head towards the door, beyond which Finn shouted her name once more. "Damnit Finn…"

Ben chuckled and released his hold on her. "We can finish this later. You should go see what he wants."

She frowned as she looked back at him before sighing and leaning forward. The handcuffs were back in her hand with a flick of her finger and Ben moved his arms back so she could replace the restraints on him. It was a necessary evil, but Rey used the opportunity to kiss him once more before standing and heading towards the door.

When she was at the door, Rey attempted to adjust her clothing back to its regular spot, but the door slid open in front of her, revealing a very frantic looking Finn. "Rey. Chewie needs you in the cockpit. Three First Order ships just came out of hyperspace!"

Rey's eyes widened. "What!? How did they find us!?"

"I don't know, but they're moving to attack."

"There might be a traitor amongst the stormtroopers that came." Rey turned to look back at Ben. His eyebrows were pushed together concerned. "Could have a tracker on them. I'm so sorry."

Finn huffed under his breath. "Yeah yeah. Rey go to the cockpit. Im taking the guns."

Rey nodded and pushed past him, but stopped when Ben called Finn's attention.

"Finn! Uncuff me! I can help."

She turned in time to see Finn scoff. "You're mad."

"You need my help! They may only have 3 ships left in their fleet but they still have plenty of fighters. You know how they fight as well as anyone, Finn. You need a second gunner and I'm a good shot."

Ben made a good point, but Rey didn't answer when Finn looked at her for her opinion. He already knew what she would say. It was up to him to decide to trust him.

Finn huffed after a minute of thought and walked into the room. Rey moved back to the door to watch him undo the handcuffs.

"I'm only trusting you because Rey does." Finn said before stepping back with his eyes narrowed. "Don't make me regret it."

Ben paused beside her to touch her cheek lightly as they moved past her towards the guns, then walked off.

"You take the top gun, I'll take the bottom."

"Right. Damn… it's been a while since I've sat in these things."

There was no response from Finn. Like he just realized. Ben had grown up on this ship.

 ** _A/N- Whoee! Hope that wasn't too much for you guys. That rating finally comes in to play lol._**

 ** _I debated_** ** _rewriting that kiss to be a little less physical but in the end decided it was important for the development of their relationship. I did try to keep it as PG as I could while also keeping that passion in there._**

 ** _At_** ** _the moment they're not really ready for anything_** ** _past this but they do have this overwhelming need for each other and are in the process of learning how to express it. Ben is learning a little faster than Rey and starting to use his words but Rey is still struggling with the words so she's left with just physical touch and wanting to be held by him._**

 ** _Neither_** ** _of them have been in love before so they're learning how to be :)_**

 ** _-Ash_** ** _(Gosh this note is long. Sorry!)_**


	20. Chapter 20

By the time Rey reached the cockpit, the battle was already fully underway. More than once there was a moment where she had to steady herself as she made her way through the ship when Chewie presumably jerked it one way to avoid a blaster. The Millenium Falcon was a bigger ship, but still small enough to be target like a fighter.

She had to practically throw herself into the seat when the ship jerked again and struggled to situate herself while she put the headset on.

"Poe! What's the situation?"

Poe and BB-8 had taken charge of their own fighter force, and were flying around in an x-wing. It was easy to pick him out from amongst the chaos when he flew past, taking out a TIE fighter that had been headed for them. His skill was undeniable. "They have three cruisers and a whole lot of fighters. Not as many as they've attacked us before though. They've been hit hard, just like us."

"Right. That's good." Rey muttered and reached up to flick a switch that Chewie hadn't been able to reach from his seat, fully activating their shields. "We need to find a way to get them off our tail and get our ships to safety."

There was a pause. "Rey, this is our chance to take them out."

"No Poe." Rey sighed and shook her head, taking charge of the wheel so Chewie could focus on their defenses. "Their force may be smaller but so is ours. Our goal is escape. Not engage. We need to approach this carefully if we want to prevent as many deaths as possible. General, are you listening?"

Leia's voice came through the speaker. A little staticy since the cruise was a bit behind them to avoid battle, but still easy to hear. "I'm here, Rey. And I agree."

Rey let out a small gasp when a TIE fighter crashed into the side of their ship, making something spark behind them. "Chewie take the wheel."

The Wookie spoke his agreement as she stood and started fiddling with wires. "Ben thinks one of the Storm troopers betrayed us. Hux probably knew there was a plot against him happening and planted a trooper in as a spy. You should try and find them. If we don't, they'll find us no matter where we go."

There was another pause as Leia thought, and Rey let out a curse when one of the wires sparked her. "Right. I will see to that personally. Clear us a path. Once the cruiser is free, the rest of you will be able to follow."

With that said, Poe immediately began shouting out orders to the various squads, positioning them in strategic ways while Rey finished repairing the Falcon. "Red Squad. Blue squad, on me. We need to take out one of their cruisers. Lessen the flow of fighters they can send at us. Gold squad, with Rey. The rest of you protect the cruiser. Clear them a path out of here."

"Copy that, Black Leader."

"We're with you, Poe."

"Rey." Poe spoke directly to her and Rey took back the wheel from Chewbacca just in time. "I need with me. Draw the fire of their guns from us. Take out a many as you can. If my suspicions are right, Hux will target the Falcon because he will assume you and Ky… Ben, will be on board."

"Got it." Rey swung the Falcon around to face the First Order cruisers. Three of them like Poe had said. The one on the right was where most of the fighters were swarming from. It was most likely the one Poe would be targeting, but as for which one was giving out the orders… "Ben, am I safe to assume that Hux is on the centre ship?"

Ben took a second to answer, and Rey saw a fighter fly past them in flames. "That is definitely where he'll be."

Rey nodded and flicked a few more levers. "Then let's go rattle him around a bit. Gold squad, on me!"

Getting to the ship was easy with Poe taking care of the fighters, but the real challenge was at the ship itself. They were small enough to ignore the shields that blocked blasts from the cruisers, but the guns were still an issue.

One by one the guns exploded as her squad zipped around the surface of the cruiser. She focused the Falcon around the bridge itself, hoping to give their esteemed General a bit of a fright. Enough to ignore Poe and focus on her.

Surprisingly enough, Ben and Finn worked well together on the guns, warning each other of coming fighters and taking out guns with their combined fire power. They even shared a few celebratory cheers when difficult enemies exploded into flames. If they weren't fighting for their lives at the moment, she would have smiled at the idea of them getting along.

The battle was so chaotic and intense, that she barely noticed when Leia stopped speaking to them over the intercom. It wasn't until Poe shouted to her that Rey realized they had made a grave mistake.

They had ignored the third ship.

"Rey, the cruiser!"

She turned the Falcon around to look where they had left the cruiser and immediately forgot about Hux's ship. Several fighters and the third cruiser had advanced on their ship, surrounding it while they were distracted, and boarded.

It was too late. The ship was lost.

 ** _A/N -Finally! I'm sorry that took so long and that it's so short! I really struggled with this chapter and I'm still not completely satisfied with it but I want to get on with the story._**

 ** _The battle got skimmed over a bit, but I really didn't know what to do with it and the details weren't very important for the story anyway. Only the end was ;)_** **_Maybe one day I will rewrite it and build on the fight._**

 ** _Now that_** ** _we've got over this hump, the rest should come relatively easy. I already have some of it written! We're almost to the end guys! Oh my god that is both exciting and saddening. My babies have grown up a lot since this started haven't they?_** ** _-Ash_**


	21. Chapter 21

The atmosphere in the Falon was tense. For a long while, no one knew what to say.

The First Order had stopped their attack after capturing the Resistance cruiser, and they had retreated a ways away to lick their wounds and come up with a plan to rescue the people who had been on board their ship, Leia included.

There was also a bit of apprehension towards Ben, who leaned against a wall next to Rey. Not all of them had boarded the Falcon to strategize. Some had remained in fighters to stand guard, but those who had did their best not to stare at the former sith.

"So they have Leia." Poe finally spoke up from across the room. "And Nell. And the Admiral. And everyone else." He ran a hand down his face and sighed. "And we don't have the firepower to storm them. But we can't leave without them. So what now?"

"We have to board the ships." Rey stated like it was the most obvious course of action.

Poe furrowed his brows. "That does seem like our only option. But we need a plan, otherwise it's suicide."

"Why aren't they attacking us?" The girl who spoke was a fighter pilot. Rey had seen her around the base on Hoth, but had never spoken to her.

Rey crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "Hux is playing with us. He thinks he's won. That he's got us backed into a corner and all we can do is either surrender or die. So now he's having his fun."

"She's right." Ben sighed from beside her. "He's always been power hungry. Someone who wants to control people. A hunter that likes to play with his food. No doubt he's even calling himself Supreme Leader now."

As if on cue, Chewie spoke up to say they were receiving an incoming transmission from the First Order ships.

"Speak of the devil." Rey muttered under her breath before nodding to the Wookie. "Put him through."

Rey had never met General Hux, but Poe had described him for her from what Leia had told him. Tall, thin and pale. He had the look of a psychopath who had been violently bullied as a child. While the holographic figure of him that appeared in the centre of the common room didn't really tell her much about his skin tone, Poe had been right about his physique.

Then there was his expression. Though he was decently attractive, the violent glint in his eyes and the smug smile ruined his face. Rey already knew she didn't like this man. There was no light in his eyes. "This is Supreme Leader Hux of the First Order. You fleet is destroyed. Your allies have abandoned you and I…" He paused to smirk. "I have your General and all the traitors who were on that ship with her."

The image of him panned out to reveal Leia standing next to him with her hands folded in front of her. She didn't look scared, but did appear to be very annoyed. Apparently Hux did not make for good company.

Ben pushed off from the wall beside her, no doubt about to step forward so Hux would be able to hear him, but Rey stuck out her hand to stop him as Hux continued. "You have nothing left. Surrender. Give me the traitor, Kylo Ren and I may let you live."

Rey snorted, knowing full well that he wouldn't let them live if they surrendered. She stepped forward until Hux could see her and saw his eyes narrow in confusion. He had only seen her once, but whether or not he had realized she was the Jedi everyone kept talking about was a mystery. "There will be no surrendering today, General Hux, believe me."

"Who are you?" He snapped, his voice a mixture of anger and genuine curiosity.

"Oh my apologies. I'm Rey. The one who convinced Kylo Ren to betray you in the _first place_. The _Jedi_." She paused for a second to smile when his eyes widened, and crossed her arms. "The one who should be afraid here, is you."

His eyes narrowed again. "And why is that, Jedi?"

Rey smiled and touched her chin thoughtfully. "Think about it. You've heard the stories of the power of the Jedi right? And no doubt you've seen or even felt the power of the Sith." There was a grimace and Rey's smile widened a bit. Ben had told her about the times he had used the force to shut Hux up. Either by throwing him or choking him. She had struck a nerve. "The light and the dark. Imagine what someone could do with _both_ at their disposal, hmm? Let me repeat myself. There will be no surrender but the war will end today. And it won't be the Resistance that is left standing. Or your precious First Order. It will be me and all who stand beside me. Your enemy is no longer the Resistance. It's _me_. And you should prepare yourself, _General_. Because I am coming for you."

The last thing Rey saw before she motioned for the connection to be cut, was a look of fear in Hux's eyes. She had succeeded in scaring him, and she would use that fear to her advantage.

"Great." Poe sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Now security will be even tighter. How are we supposed to get on board?"

"If he's as paranoid as I think he is..."

"He is…"

Rey turned to see Ben look away sheepishly after interrupting her, then continued. "...then he'll bring all of his security onto one ship to protect himself, leaving the rest of the ships vulnerable. Easier to attack."

He nodded and crossed his arms. "And how do we get to Hux?"

"You aren't getting to anyone. It will be me and Ben. The rest of you will stay here."

There was a short silence that followed while Poe figured out what she said, but the pilot from before answered first. "When you said it wouldn't be the Resistance standing at the end of all this…"

"The Resistance is over." Rey sighed and dropped her hands. "There is only one way this ends and it is with both sides losing."

The girl stood and clenched her fists. "But after all we've done. We've put our _lives_ into this fight!"

She understood where she was coming from. She really did. But there was no other way. "And now it's time to _stop_! Both sides lose. Otherwise you win and it keeps going. You blow them up today. They blow you up tomorrow. It's a cycle and it never stops." Rey had to pause to take a break. "This fight has been happening for decades now and it is time to break the cycle. So yes. Your Resistance is dead. And I know Leia agrees with me. She's already said as much."

"Alright. Alright fine." Poe finally spoke again stepping towards her. "So the Resistance is over. Okay. But if you think we are letting you go in there _alone_ , then you are insane, Rey."

Rey opened her mouth to object, but Poe shushed her immediately and continued. "No _listen_. We won't go in as Resistance. We are going in as your _friends_. You said that the ones left standing on top will be you and anyone who stands beside you. So let us stand beside you."

That stunned her into silence. In her quest to stop the war. In saving them, she had almost forgot why she was doing it. To keep her friends safe. But friendship went both ways. If she wouldn't let them die, then they wouldn't let her die. She couldn't speak as Finn stepped forward to join Poe in her announcement, and then Chewbacca, BB-8 and one by one, everyone else who stood in the room. Ben stepped forward too, and placed a hand on her shoulder and Rey swore out of the corner of her eye that she saw the blue mist of a force ghost.

More friends than she ever thought she would have. It made her eyes sting.

 ** _A/N- I planned on doing more this chapter, but if I kept going this chapter would have gotten far too long xD_**

 ** _Though I'm sure you guys wouldn't be opposed to a longer chapter, for the sake of storytelling it was a good place to end it :)_**

 ** _Anyone else notice how Rey is getting a bit cocky? No one is there to tell everyone she's the chosen one so it has to be her! Thank god Poe is there to remind her of who she is!_**

 ** _-Ash_**


	22. Chapter 22

It took a few hours to come up with a decent plan, as decent as they could get anyway. No one had any real idea how they were going to infiltrate the First Order ships.

Chewbacca kept a close eye on the ships and reported transport ships moving between the three. No doubt preparing for the threat of Rey's attack.

Not all of the Resistance volunteered to fight for Rey, but those who did divided into three groups. The pilot from before would take one group to one of the two smaller ships and Rose would go to the other one. Their job would be to place explosives Chewbacca had stashed on the Falcon and Rey would have the detonator.

Everyone else would focus on the main ship. Poe would plant the remaining explosives and Finn would rescue the defected stormtroopers while Rey faced Hux.

The goal was to save anyone who ever harboured any doubts about the First Order, then activate the bombs once they were all off the ships and end the First Order once and for all.

It was a loose plan. But it was all they had.

"Leia won't be in the cells with the troopers." Finn was warning her as they stood in front of the cockpit of the Falcon. He would ride in with her while the others went in on fighters. Poe had already left through the small hatch that connected the Falcon to the fighters and reboarded his ship. "He will probably have her with him. For both interrogation purposes and to use her against you."

Rey sighed and nodded. "Yeah I assumed so."

Finn furrowed his brow and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. It will be okay. You can do this."

"It's just all so… Real now. If you had told me when I was still on Jakku that I would be destroying the First Order I would have thought you were insane." Rey crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

"Probably given me a good smack too." Finn chuckled and his joke managed to bring a smile to her face.

"And to think… a few months ago you were trying to run away."

His smile widened and he shrugged. "I'm glad I didn't. I would never forgive myself if I just sat back while you saved the galaxy by yourself."

"I'm glad I met you."

Finn's eyes softened as he pushed away from the wall to engulf her in a tight hug. "Me too." There was a long stretch of silence as they enjoyed each other's embrace.

Rey had thought long and hard about what she would do after this was all over, assuming she survived, and she knew that she and Ben wouldn't be returning. With the force balanced, their new destinies would be elsewhere.

This would probably be the last time she would see her friend.

If only Poe hadn't rushed off to his fighter. She could have given him a proper goodbye as well. Not that they knew how heavy that goodbye would be.

"Do me a favour, Rey?" Finn spoke up after a while and held her at arm's length. "Don't die?"

She met his smirk with one of her own. "I'll do my best. But you'd better not die either."

With that said, Finn went off to address the members of his team, and give them the rundown of the plan. With his knowledge of the ship, he had the best idea of where the defected stormtroopers would be held.

Rey, on the other hand, went off to find Ben. He was most likely under the impression that he was going with her, but Rey had other ideas, and he had to be made aware of them before they left.

She found him in the common room, but stopped and hid behind the doorway, peeking inside to watch as Chewbacca appeared with a bundle of fabric in his hands. Apparently, he had left the cockpit to talk with Ben. Finally.

He handed the bundle to Ben, who took it gingerly and didn't look up. Judging by the emotions radiating off of him through their bond and the way his voice broke when he spoke, Rey guessed that he was trying not to cry. "Are you sure?"

Chewbacca voiced his response quietly and placed a hand on his shoulder before stepping away.

Ben let the bundle unravel and hang from his hands and Rey was surprised to discover that it was a jacket, strikingly similar to the one Han Solo had been wearing when he died. Brown, old and worn with patches proving it had been battle and needed to be repaired.

When he put it on, Rey took back her decision that he looked more like his grandfather. With the jacket on, the resemblance between Ben Solo and Han Solo was uncanny.

Ben took a deep breath and finally looked up to meet Chewie's eyes. "Thank you."

Chewbacca put a hand on Ben's head for just a second, before leaving the room. He passed Rey as she pushed off from the doorway to walk towards Ben, meeting her eyes for a moment before going off.

"That looks good on you." She commented with a soft smile.

Ben glanced at her and then looked down to inspect one of the patches on the arm. "Chewbacca said it was my father's years ago... He got a new one but they kept it in case something happened to the other one…"

"I'm glad he came around." Rey walked over to him to run a hand down the front seam of the jacket. It had certainly been worn a lot. "You look like him. I thought you resembled your grandfather more but… with this on it's like I'm looking at a young Han Solo."

"My grandfather?" Ben furrowed his brows in confusion. "You've met him?"

Rey sighed and nodded. There was no sense in hiding it. "He appeared to me as a ghost just before we left Hoth. Along with Master Yoda and Obi Wan."

"What did they say?"

"They just thanked me for not giving up on you " Rey moved her hand to his chest and smiled up at him. "And they wanted to make sure I knew that I wasn't alone in this."

Ben paused for a second, before moving a hand to rest over hers. "He appeared to me too."

"Really?" Her eyebrow perked and Rey tilted her head curiously. "What did he say to you?"

He paused again and bit his lip. Rey had to bite back a remark about how cute he looked when doing that. No doubt a former Sith Lord would not appreciate being called cute. "I asked him why he had never appeared to me before, when I had asked for his guidance so many times. He… explained to me that there was only one person in this galaxy who would be able to save me, and it wasn't him." He wasn't meeting her eyes, but he pulled her hand away from his chest, only to give himself the opportunity to lightly play with her fingers, running the tips of his along the joints. "He also told me that you are the chosen one, and that I need to protect you. If not for the galaxy's sake, than for my own. Without you I'll likely fall back to the darkside."

Rey looked down at their joined hands and hummed her understanding, not entirely sure how to respond. After her talk with the Jedi, she had assumed that she was meant to ge the new chosen one, but hearing it aloud made it all the more real.

"And then he spent a good hour just teasing me." When Rey looked back up at his face, she found the soft expression replaced with one of pure annoyance. "Kept asking me questions about you. Making comments like ''We Skywalkers sure do like our brunettes eh?' He even asked if we had…"

He trailed off then, and Rey raised an eyebrow once more. "If we had what?"

"Nothing." Ben said a bit too quickly, dropping her hand and stepping away. The red tint to his cheeks was impossible to ignore.

Rey grinned, partially with joy at seeing him so embarrassed and curiosity as to why. What had Anakin said? "Ben…?"

He shook his head and stepped further away. "It's not important." There was a moments paused, in which Rey opened her mouth to continue pressing for an answer before Ben interuppted her hastily, obviously desperate for a change of topic. "So he is probably in one of the hangar's. You've made him paranoid enough that he'll want as many guards around him as possible and the main hangar had the most room. We'll probably be walking into an army."

Rey frowned at his rambling and took a step closer. "Ben…"

"There will be.a lot of stormtroopers but I think together…"

"Ben."

"We can take them easily. Just have to get to Hux and then…"

"Ben!" She had to raise her voice to get his attention and met his wide eyes with a sigh. "I want you to go with Finn."

The surprise in his eyes was obvious, but quickly replaced by confusion? "What? Why?"

"Finn will need your help."

"Rey, you need my help." Ben walked back over to her and gripped her shoulders. "You can't face Hux alone."

Rey shook her head. "I'll have my squad."

"They can't protect you like I can."

"Ben." She said his name to stop him from saying anything else before sighing. "You are trying to balance yourself. I can feel that. But you're still prone to the darkside. It's like an addict going through withdrawal. Being exposed makes it harder to resist. I saw plenty of addicts on Jakku so I know." Ben released her and turned his back, causing Rey to sigh again. "Seeing Hux, seeing your mother with Hux, will make you angry. Anger is a path to the darkside. You know that better than anyone."

"Are you saying I'm addicted to the darkside?"

He spoke without looking at her and Rey frowned at the unfortunate turn their conversation at taken. Not that she could have avoided it. It was what she had wanted to tell him. "I am saying that you're vulnerable. Hux gets to you, and I can't watch you be engulfed by the darkside."

Ben didn't respond for a long moment and Rey began to wonder if she had truly offended him. There was always a chance that she could make him angry enough to go back, but she had to trust him. "So what are you planning to do? Take on the entire First Order by yourself?"

Rey pursed her lips. She was still working on that herself. Somehow, she would have to convince the stormtroopers to defect. A show of power to prove that leaving would not cost them their lives as they no doubt feared. Then there was Hux himself… "Hux isn't force sensitive, right?,

Ben turned to look at her with a confused expression. "No. I would have sensed it. And so would Snoke."

She met his eyes and smiled. "Then I just have to get past this troopers. He shouldn't be a challenge. He's no Snoke. Easy."

His confused expression remained for more than a few heartbeats until, to her surprise, Ben let out a small laugh and wrapped his arms around her. "You are truly amazing."

Rey wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. "Please just go with Finn. Trust that I will survive this. I need to come back to you in one piece."

"Alright." She could hear a bit of reluctance in his voice, but he agreed all the same. "I'll go with Finn."

 ** _A/N- I finished watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Anakin is such a shit in that show sometimes that I just couldn't resist throwing some of that in here. :P So it's safe to say that when he spoke to Ben a few chapters back there was a continued conversation behind the scenes that involved a lot of teasing._**

 ** _Next chapter we get back to the action! There's not going to be some epic final battle or anything. I imagine Hux isn't actually that much of a threat by himself, so once Rey gets past his army it'll be pretty much over._**

 ** _BUT there will be explosions, either in this coming chapter or the next, so that's always nice!_**

 ** _We're almost there guys! It's almost done!_**

 ** _-Ash_**


	23. Chapter 23

Getting onto the First Order ships proved to be surprisingly easy. With Hux pulling most of his resources into one spot combined with their lack of interest in being sneaky about it, they were able to fly all their transport ships aboard the various ships with relative ease.

Poe of course, commanded the fighter squads until the transports were all through, and then flew in to join them soon after.

Unfortunately, that was the easy part.

They were naturally greeted by plenty of stormtroopers but they only surrounded the vessel and pointed their guns at the door while those inside prepared themselves.

"Right. It's going to be chaos out there. We need to make sure we know where we're going." Rey pulled her lightsabers from their holsters and connected them. Her squad stood behind her. Three of Zavroc's men, two of their own and Chewbacca, ready to follow the purple glow of her sabers.

Meanwhile, Finn's own squad stood behind him and Ben. Poe's were outside in the fighters, already clearing out stormtroopers before they would land themselves.

"Right." Finn nodded and took a second to remember exactly where he waa going. "The cells are on the lower levels. We need to get to the door on the far end of the hangar. Just ahead. That hallway will lead us to the elevators. Rey, Hux will most likely be on the main hangar. Head to the door on the left and follow the hallway. R2-D2 should have no issue hacking into the system and getting the map so he can lead you."

The droid chirped and shuffled approvingly. Rey was glad he had come on the Falcon with them. BB-8 was with Poe on the fighter of course, but most of their other droids, including C-3PO, had been on the cruiser with Leia.

Rey nodded thoughtfully. "Right. You go forward. I go left. Simple enough. Remember who you're with. You lot follow the red lightsaber. You guys follow purple." She paused to point at the respective groups and turned to the door, activating her lightsaber.

Ben activated his next to her. "Rey, are you sure…"

"Ben." She spoke his name with a tone of finality. There would be no more discussion about him coming with her. "Go save our troopers."

He sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Alright. Don't die."

Rey gave a short laugh and glanced at him. "You too. Let's go!"

On her command, the door slid open and chaos erupted immediately. Rey and Ben took the lead, charging out and deflecting bullets while their men got into position. Poe's squad flew in circles above them, blasting groups of troopers aside and clearing a path for them to run through.

Between dodging attacks and deflecting blasters, Rey lost track of her people several times. But her squad seemed to follow the purple glow of her sabers easily, and she would occasionally turn to see Ben's red saber swing through the air in the skillful way that reminded her of how much more training her had than her.

"Rey! That way!" Somehow she caught sight of Finn pointing at a door far beyond the masses and not a moment later, Poe was blasting her a path through the stormtroopers.

R2-D2 whirred off in that direction and Rey yelled for her squad to follow them.

She couldn't be sure how much time passed between when they left the Falcon and when they made it through the door Finn show them and sealed it shut. It could have been seconds, or close to an hour.

They stopped for only a second and Rey took stock of their numbers. No casualties yet. But they weren't in the clear yet either. It would only get harder the closer they got to Hux.

"Poe. We're clear. Once Finn and Ben are you're free to land and start planting bombs." Rey spoke directly into her comlink.

"Copy that. Good luck Rey." Poe sounded out of breath, but she could hardly blame him. He was a talented pilot but flying in a smaller area than he was used to.

"May the force be with you." She sighed before turning to the droid. "R2. See any ports can get into?"

He didn't, but whirred off immediately in search of one with everyone following quickly behind. He found one easily, and with only a few more minutes wasted, he was soon whirring off again in the direction of the hangar. Within no time at all, they all stood in front of the door that separated them from Hux and Leia.

"Right. I only have a slight idea of what we'll find in there. Just keep your heads on and try not to die. We need to get to Leia." Rey commanded as she activated her lightsabers. Her men all mumbled their agreements and Chewbacca let out a war cry as the door slid open.

The hangar was absolute chaos. Rey hadn't seen Hux upon entering, but knew he must be somewhere beyond the mass of soldiers. All she could hope to do was push forward, and they did just that.

Rey swung and slashed with her lightsabers. Her men shot with their blasters and fought off melee attacks. Soon enough Rey was hearing the sound of someone shouting orders from the centre of the chaos and, assuming it to be Hux, redirected herself towards it.

It was hard to spare as many troopers as she could in this sort of battle with survival was the goal, so they fell quicker than she would have liked. It was made clear, however, that how ever many men Hux shot at her, she was too strong.

" _Stop_!" The command reverberated through the hangar in a desperate tone. All at once the fighting stopped and the sea of storm troopers parted to reveal Hux, holding a blaster to the head of a rather unimpressed looking Leia. He glared at Rey with more hatred than she had ever seen in someone's eyes. "Drop your weapon, _Jedi._ Or your precious princess dies."

Rey glanced down at her lightsabers and sighed, not in the least bit intimidated by Hux's threat. Still, she humored him and deactivated them, tossing them aside. Two stormtroopers moved forward to pick up each saber and she bit back the spark of protectiveness she felt at seeing her weapons in the hands of her enemy.

She would have them back soon enough. With a wave of her hand and an unhappy grunt from Chewie and the rest of her men did the same.

Hux smiled and laughed. "You idiots. What were you trying to accomplish by coming here? Your fleet is destroyed. Your numbers are diminished. I have won! Even with the traitor on your side, you can't hope to win."

"If we go down, we go down fighting." Rey shrugged and took a few steps towards him. "Did you honestly expect us to surrender that easily?"

"Of course not. It has been amusing to watch you squander though."

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to play with your food?"

Rey smiled a tad when she saw his cheek twitch. Clearly she had hit a nerve with that comment. Oh it was so amusing to watch _him_ squander. "You stupid rebels. Keep insulting me, Jedi. Let's see how painful I can make your death. Perhaps I will kill you last. Make you watch all of your friends die slowly. You can watch as the First Order finally takes its rightful place as the rulers of the Galaxy. There will be no need for a new Republic with me ruling as Supreme Leader. You think that you can surpass Snoke? All of your efforts wi- _ack!"_ His face contorted suddenly, and he gagged as his hands let go of Leia to clutch at his throat.

Leia stared at him with wide eyes as she moved away quickly but Rey's eyes narrowed and the hand she held towards him curled in like a claw. Despite the shock around her at what she was doing, she took casual steps towards the man as he collapsed to his knees. "My god, do you ever stop talking?"

He only coughed in response and stared at her while his face began to turn red. A few stormtroopers moved to stop her, but her men easily overpowered them while the rest stared on in either awe or terror. She couldn't be sure. Rey stopped only a couple of feet from him and stared down into his eyes. "You try to compare me to Snoke but what you fail to remember is that Snoke is _dead_ and _I_ am alive. I have _already_ surpassed him. As has Ben. You think you have won but you underestimate us and _that_ is why you have, in fact, _lost."_

"Kill me… then." His words were strained against the force grip she had around his throat but even with that, he stared at her in defiance. "Emb… race the… darkside."

Rey kneeled down to meet his eyes more easily and scowled. "I can't. Because I am _nothing_ like you or Snoke." With one flick of her wrist, Rey released Hux from her grip, but not before slamming him down onto the floor fully.

She stood and turned her back on him while he recovered, turning her attention back on the storm troopers. "Most of you didn't jump to this man's defense when I attacked him." Rey summoned her lightsabers back to her from the hands of the troopers that held them and rehooked them onto their holsters. "That alone tells me that you either fear me, or have your own doubts about following him. So let me remind you. There are a hundred of your brothers and sisters in your cells downstairs who got up the courage to defect and join the side that they thought was right. If you are having any doubts, now is the time to act on them. The war ends today. Both the Resistance and the First Order will die. You have to decide if you want to stay loyal to Hux."

"Fool!" Hux was scrambling to his feet already, though still visibly winded and disoriented. "My men are well trained and loyal. Kill her!"

"That's a bad idea and you know it." The stormtroopers that began to rush forward stopped in their tracks at her words. "What was it they used to say during the Clone Wars? One Jedi is worth a hundred normal fighters?" Rey paused to meet Hux's terrified gaze. "Well consider me worth a thousand."

Hux looked like he was about to speak, but stopped dead when she gave him a harsh, almost murderous glare. Somewhere off to the side, Rey had lost track of the woman's location, she heard Leia quietly whisper Rey's name in an almost concerned tone of voice, but Rey ignored her and turned back to the stormtroopers once more. "If you wish to survive this day, prove to me that you deserve to."

There was a long moment of silence, in which Rey watched the storm troopers glance at each other in uncertainty. Some nodding to the ones next to them in silent agreement, the others looking lost even with their helmets on. Then one yelled, "Die Jedi!" And chaos broke out. Troopers charged and fired at her with blasters. Others jumped to her defense. It was trooper against trooper. Brother against brother. Rey felt a moment of remorse for what she had done, but then her men were pulling her away with Leia at their side. They had rescued the General. Their job here was done.

"If you are fighting for me now…!" Rey yelled in a surprisingly booming voice as she weaved through the crowd. "Your place is not on this ship!"

She couldn't tell them that the ship was going to explode, otherwise the enemy would know to escape, but she also wouldn't leave them to die. In a last ditch attempt to save as many as possible, Rey hoped that this would prompt them to leave once the chaos in the hangar was over.

The adrenaline was rushing through Rey's body at a million miles a second. The lingering touches of darkness caressed her arms gently, attempting to draw her in but she shook them off, instead on running with her com, focusing on running after her companions through the halls.

One turn, two turns, five turns, before they decided they were far enough from the hangar to stop and lick their wounds.

Five men had gone in there with her. Three had come out. One looked seriously injured, being almost carried by a second, and the third was tending to a gash on his leg. Chewie, luckily, had gotten away relatively uninjured, but Rey hadn't noticed her own injuries until the adrenaline slowed down and the pain began to set in. A painful shot from a blaster on her side, a burn from a Z6 Baton on her leg and a few cuts on her arms. She had been so mentally involved in the battle that she had gotten careless. Ben would have her head.

"Rey…" Leia broke her out of her thoughts, her eyebrows knitted in concern. At least she looked relatively unharmed. Hux had most likely spent most of his time simply taunting her. "What you did in there…"

"I'm fine." Rey responded too quickly, and pulled a bandage from her belt pack to wrap around the burn on her leg. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

She didn't appear to be convinced, stepping forward to place a knowing hand on her shoulder. "Is it? I've seen that before. That anger."

"Balance, Leia." With her leg taken care of, Rey turned her attention to the wound on her side. "It doesn't mean forsaking one side. It means embracing both. That… that includes the darkside." For the first time since meeting the General, Rey had managed to make her speechless, and stood silently for a moment while Leia tried to think of a response, before sighing and standing up to her full height again. "Ben didn't come back because he found his way back to the light. He did it because he embraced the light _alongside_ the darkness... We will be fine, Leia."

Leia took a deep breath and lifted her gaze to meet Rey's. She saw some unshed tears in the woman's knowing eyes. "I suppose you are right. The darkness isn't gone from him. I felt that. It never will be. But… maybe it doesn't have to be."

Rey smiled and stepped closer to the woman she had come to view as a sort of motherly figure, and opened her mouth to respond, before one of their men interrupted her. "Does anyone hear that?"

They all stopped what they were doing and listened, trying to understand what the man had meant. But by the time Rey heard it as well, it was too late.

Her natural survival instinct kicked in enough to force push Leia and Chewbacca out of the way and lift her hands as the hallway between her and her men collapsed in a loud explosion. She tried to catch the debris with the force and use it to shield herself from the blast, but the sheer force of the explosion and the fact that she was caught of guard meant it quickly pushed past her defense, and practically knocked her off her feet.

Rey felt the stinging burn of fire and the blunt force of her head hitting the floor, but her ears rang and her vision went dark.

The Jedi fell, not to the forces of her enemy, but to a simple explosion.

 _ **A/N - AHHHHHHHH It's almost over! Two more chapters to go! I am both excited and sad. Sigh**_

 _ **Sorry if you got multiple notifications about this chapter being uploaded. I had some technical difficulties lol**_

 _ **-Ash**_


	24. Chapter 24

The void was not as terrifying as it used to be. It was frightening, sure, but also somewhat familiar. By now familiar enough to tell what had happened.

Rey could remember exactly two other times she had been in an explosion. One, of course, had happened on Kal'Shebbol, and likely would have killed her had Ben not protected her. The other had been her fault. A misplaced hand in a semi-powered ship back on Jakku. It had taken her nearly three days to work up the strength to return to her home and she had gone hungry for almost a week, rationing what food she had until her wound was healed enough to go back to scavenging for Unkar. He told her he had thought she was dead, but hadn't bothered to send anyone to check.

Her ears were ringing, her head was pounding, and there was a sharp, throbbing pain in her side. As Rey began to regain consciousness, she realized that that meant the blaster wound on her abdomen had been ripped open even further. She groaned and pushed herself up to sit, a hand clutching her bloody side as she took in the damage.

The hallway was completely caved in, blocking her from her men with debris. Charred bits of fabric fluttered through the air like snow on Hoth and there were various fires crackling all around her. She hadn't been out for long. A few minutes at most.

With a grunt, Rey used the wall beside her to get to her feet and stumbled to the center of the hallway, facing the debris. Given her current state, it took a bit more effort than usual, but Rey was able to dislodge the debris and clear the hallway. What she saw beyond did nothing to help her spirits.

Dead. All five of them. Chewbacca and R2-D2 were nowhere to be found, which meant they were likely alive, but the others all lay still and bloody on the other side of the hall.

"Rey." The General's strained voice came from behind her, and Rey gave a sigh of relief when she remembered that she had pushed the woman behind her to shield her from the blast.

Her stomach dropped, however, when she turned to see Leia laying just five feet from her, a sharp piece of metal lodged in her abdomen. "Shit." Rey swore and stumbled over to Leia side, hands leaving her own wound to hover uselessly over Leia's.

"I can't.. feel my legs." Leia sounded like she was struggling to talk. It probably hurt a lot. She had to pause every few words to take a shaky breath and wince. "I won't be able to… walk. Leave me. Find.. the others. Find my… son."

"I am not leaving you." Rey snapped back and when Leia opened her mouth to object, Rey shot her a glare that silenced the woman.

First things first, Rey wouldn't be able to carry Leia with this piece of metal in her stomach. It would have to be removed. Rey knew little about human anatomy, but knew that if her legs were numb, then it might have hit her spine. Taking it out could cause more damage. She would have to be careful.

Rey took a deep breath and grabbed the side of the metal. Sharp sides sliced at her fingers, but she hardly noticed them in comparison to the pain in her own stomach. "Okay." She breathed and gave it a small tug. Leia sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Shit. Sorry."

"Rey…"

"Rey? Rey! Are you there?! Come in Rey!" The voice coming through the comlink was staticy and broken, but still recognizable.

Rey stopped what she was doing to grab it and hold the button.

"Poe, I'm fine. We...we're fine." She glanced at Leia laying in a growing puddle of blood. They were far from fine.

"Chewbacca found us! He said there was an explosion, but his comlink broke so he couldn't contact you. One of our bombs must have gone off accidently."

Rey breathed a sigh of relief. So Chewbacca was fine after all. "Good. That's good. Where is R2?"

There was a pause. "I don't know. Chewie said they got separated. Hope the little guy is okay. Look. Stay where you are. We're coming to get you!"

"No! Poe no." Leia grabbed Rey's wrist and they met eyes, both wordlessly agreeing on their opinion. Poe had to get off the ship. Coming for them was too dangerous. "Poe if there are bombs randomly going off then it's too dangerous."

"Which is why we need to find you!"

"Poe." Rey squeezed her eyes shut, feeling reality crashing around her. There was now a good chance she wouldn't make it out of this alive. "Get off the ship. Leave us. We'll find a way on our own. You and Chewbacca and anyone else with you, get off this ship before it blows."

"Rey…"

"That's an order, Poe!"

Again, Poe was silent for a long time. Months ago he might have ignored all orders, and done what he believed was right, but was stupid in the end. But he had grown up a lot since then. "May the force be with you, Rey. Come back to us."

Rey bit her lip and clutched the comlink tightly. Ben hadn't said anything. He must have lost his somehow. He was alive, that she knew, but with everything happening, it was difficult to focus on him enough to figure out what had happened. "Shit…"

"Rey…" Leia's grip on her wrist, weak as it was, tightened slightly to regain her attention. "Ben… cannot lose both… of us. You must… leave me."

"No." Rey muttered and shifted to face her once more. Gripping the piece of metal again, Rey took a deep breath and prepared herself to yank it out with all her remaining strength.

The sound of footsteps caught her attention, however, and Rey's gaze flicked up to see a group of stormtroopers sprinting down the hall towards them.

She turned around when more footsteps sounded behind her and quietly muttered another curse under her breath. They were surrounded.

In a split second decision, Rey force pulled the debris from the explosion and positioned it around herself and Leia like a dome, acting as a sort of shield.

Blaster shots rang against the metal and Rey had to stand to hold her shield against the force. Standing hurt and she could feel her blood dripping down her leg. Leia's hand wrapped around her ankle weakly and Rey shot her a glance.

The momentary distraction weakened the shield soon and Rey gasped when one of the shots connected with her arm painfully. She was in no state to fight. She couldn't get them out of this alive.

Rey took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her rational mind said to send Ben away like she had Poe. Let him get away safely and leave the two of them. But her instincts called out for him on their own.

In her time of need, he was who she reached for.

"Ben…"

Eternity passed in an instant. One moment there was silence, and then Rey's eyes snapped open when she heard a lightsaber whizzing around beyond the confines of her shield. The sound of men falling, some hitting the metal. And then more silence.

"Rey..?"

The shield fell like the weight on her shoulders and Rey went with it, collapsing to her knees in relief. She barely noticed the new collection of bodies surrounding her and the group of demasked stormtroopers searching them. Her focus was on Ben Solo, coming to kneel next to her. "Rey. What happened. Are you alright? I felt you calling to me."

"Explosion." Rey clutched a hand to her wound again and took a deep breath. "I'm fine. Mostly. But your mother…"

His focus changed immediately. Rey saw the colour drain from his face when he looked past her to Leia. She moved aside so he could go to her, and leaned up against the wall while he took her hand.

While Ben tended to his mother, Rey started to see to her own wounds, starting by taking off her belts in order to get the top layer of her clothes off. It's length would make a good bandage to stop the bleeding.

"Here, let me help." A short, dark-haired woman kneeled down beside her, unclipping on of Rey's belt and taking the fabric off to start wrapping around her stomach.

Rey watched her with curious eyes. A former stormtrooper, no doubt, but her fingers moved with practiced precision. Perhaps she had been a medic for the First Order. "What's your name?"

"SA-3957."

"We'll fix that."

The trooper gave her a small smile at that comment, giving the makeshift bandages a small tug and making Rey grunt slightly.

"Ben. I'm dead… weight. You have… to leave me. Get Rey out of... here."

"You know I won't do that. Can I remove this metal?"

SA-3957 answered him as she finished tying Rey's bandages. "Can you carry her?"

"Yes. Wait, Rey are you okay? Can you walk?"

Rey grunted and stood up with SA-3957's help, taking one of her lightsabers from its holster with her other hand resting protectively over her wound. "I'm fine. Worry about her."

Ben seemed unconvinced, Rey was sure she looked like shit and probably a bit pale with all the blood she had lost, but she sensed he trusted her judgment, if not her stubbornness. He nodded and shifted his glance to the stormtrooper. "I can carry her."

She nodded and took her blaster out. "Then I would leave it in until we can get to a med bay. Hopefully the ship Nell finds has one. Otherwise we risk her bleeding to death."

"Just leave me. Please… if you take me… I will slow you… down."

"Like hell." Ben scooped her up carefully before she could object anymore. Leia let out a small huff of pain, but they could all tell that she was in more pain than she was letting on. "Let's go. Before this place blows."

They set off slowly, those who were still capable holding their weapons ready and moving in pace with Rey and Ben.

Leia continued to make objections and Ben continually shushed her while SA-3957 kept looking back to check on her and Rey.

"Where is Finn?" Rey asked after a few minutes, her lightsaber ready at her side.

"They were keeping some higher ranked troopers separate from the others. We separated to go after both groups." Ben answered slowly, as if unsure how to tell her.

Rey's eyebrows furrowed. "Do you know if he's okay? What if he waits for you?"

He met her eyes and frowned. "He has strict instructions to get as many people off the ship as he can. He won't wait."

"We're almost to the hangar." SA-3957 muttered to them, keeping her voice down and her blaster up. "We sent Nell ahead with the others to prep a ship.

"Get down!"

The warning came just before the blaster shots. Ben ducked down with Leia and Rey jumped in front of the group to deflect as many bullets as she could in her state while the troopers fired back.

Luckily, seeing as she was in no state to fight, the fight was over as quickly as it began. More storm troopers appeared behind the ones Rey was fighting and started firing at them.

Their enemies fell one by one and soon, Rey was leaning against the wall again to catch her breath while Nell ran towards. "Rey! I'm glad I found you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Nell. Weren't you look for a ship?" Ben stood with Leia still in his arms and walked over to them.

Nell had to look up to meet his eyes. "We found one. It's all ready to go. Anyone got a spare blaster? Mine is jammed."

Nobody stepped forward and Rey pushed off from the wall, hesitantly pulling her other lightsaber from its holster. She had a few reservations about giving someone else her lightsaber, but Nell needed a weapon. "Here. Think you can use it?"

Nell caught it when Rey threw it and fumbled for a minute before she found the button and held it up. "I can figure it out. Thanks! Let's go."

There was something very right about the sight of Nell with a lightsaber.

They met no more trouble on the way to the hangar, and it only took a few more minutes to arrive there. However, as soon as the door slid open, chaos erupted once again.

A large group of stormtroopers were attacking the ones protecting a ship on the far side, and upon hearing the door open, half of them turned their attention to Rey and the others as they charged in.

She and Nell took the lead, with the others holding back while they cleared a path.

The combination of Rey's injuries and Nell's inexperience with a saber meant they didn't fair well in battle, but they managed to cut a path through and soon, Rey was yelling for the others to make for the ship. With the adrenaline running again, she was blissfully unaware of her pain.

"Ben, get her to the ship!"

Rey was unsure of anything that was happening. She saw bodies moving around her. Watched Ben rush past with his mother looking pale as ever. Nell shouting distantly for everyone to board.

She tried to follow but got caught cutting down enemies who tried to attack her friends. Soon, Rey was surrounded and gaining more injuries as time passed. There were people shouting her name. She instinctively used the force to push Nell back when she tried to rush to her aid and shouted for her to get everyone to safety.

And there was no one around her. Rey felt a gush of the force and her eyes widened as she watched her enemies shoot away from her as if they had been thrown. She glanced around for the culprit, but Ben was already inside the ship.

Then, she caught a glimpse of transparent blue robes out of the corner of her eye.

"Rey!" Anakin appeared beside her so suddenly she flinched, just like she had the first time the Jedi showed themselves. Beyond him she could see the others, all surrounding her protectively. "We aren't very powerful in this state so we can't hold them off long! Run, now!"

She hesitated for only a moment before doing as she was told. While the remaining stormtroopers were distracted, Rey bolted for the door, pausing only for a second to look back and see the ghosts gone before boarding the ship and hitting the button to close the ramp

The ship was small, so it was lucky there were only a few stormtroopers on board. Perhaps about ten. But it had a tiny hangar for a small fighter that was currently empty. Ben had placed Leia there temporarily while SA-3957 ran around collecting medical supplies.

"No med bay!" She was muttering. "Have to do with what I can find."

Nell and Rey moved to rush past them to the cockpit, but Rey paused at Ben's side and stared with concern at the paleness of Leia's skin.

"Rey, I need your help." Nell's voice caught her attention. "We need to get this ship in the air and no one else here is a pilot."

Rey swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. Several stormtroopers positioned themselves and their blasters by the door when the enemies outside started banging on the side of the ship. "Right. Let's go."

R2-D2 greeted them when they rushed into the room and Rey breathed a sigh of relief before taking a seat with Nell. "Oh it's good to see you. Is this ship ready to fly, R2?"

The droid beep and chirped excitedly, shaking on his metal legs.

Rey nodded and started pressing buttons. "Good. Let's go. Guns or Wheel, Nell?"

"Guns." She grinned over at Rey as the ship started to rise. "I'm an excellent shot."

 _ **A/N - So that's the main conflict done. Yay! Hux is defeated. Everyone is saved. Well mostly. Now it's just loose ends and all that.**_ _ **1 more chapter! AAHHHH**_ _ **-Ash**_


	25. Chapter 25

Watching the First Order ships blow up was both incredibly satisfying and saddening.

The bombs went off only seconds after their ship got out of range and it was quite the rocky journey while Rey and Nell flew their vessel to the outskirts of the battlefield. They turned the ship around to watch the explosions and all three of them watched in awed silence.

Rey felt an immense pressure in her chest, compressed by the force as thousands of lives ended all at once. Despite believing in her reasons for doing this, her eyes pricked with tears at the loss.

"Wow…" Nell breathed the word out quietly and Rey turned to see her transfixed on the explosion, the fire dancing across her eyes. "That was… that hurt a lot more than I thought it would… All those people… all dying at once."

Rey was silent until she realized Nell's hand was on her chest. It all clicked at once. Why Nell was so impressed by Rey's control of the force on Kal'Shebbol. Why the sight of her holding a lightsaber seemed so right. She had been too wrapped up in everything to notice the power radiating off her before. "You're force sensitive, aren't you?"

Nell tore her gaze from the explosion to meet Rey's eyes and nodded shyly. "Yeah… I've known… since I was little. Had to cut myself off from the force to hide from Snoke. I was… afraid that he would see me as a threat to Kylo Ren. Kill me. Or maybe take me on as an apprentice which is… _not_ something I wanted.

Rey gave a soft chuckle. "I don't blame you. I met him once and he… didn't make for very pleasant company."

Nell laughed sadly with her and they fell silent again. Rey could see Resistance fighters whizzing about ahead of them, and transports moving towards their cruiser.

Poe's voice came through the comlink, but Rey turned it off and sighed. "Listen, Nell. I'm… not going back. My purpose lies far away from politics now. I won't… ask anyone to come with me. But, you remember what I said before we left Hoth? About a new Jedi order?" She tilted her head to the side curiously and nodded. "Well… I'm going to need members. People to help me maintain the balance."

Nell's eyes lit up immediately and she almost scared Rey when she suddenly turned in her seat and exclaimed excitedly, "Are you asking me to be a Jedi?"

"Well… yes." Rey was slightly taken aback by her enthusiasm. "If you want."

"Rey. I already told you that your side is the one I want to be on." Nell's smile widened. "That hasn't changed."

The admission brought a bit of weight off Rey's shoulders and she was formulating her response when SA-3957 entered the room. "She's asking for you."

And just like that, the weight was back on. Rey took a deep breath and stood with a nod. "Okay. Take the wheel, Nell."

SA-3957 grabbed her arm as she passed to stop her. "Rey… that's your name, right? She's… she's not gonna make it. Not with the materials I have."

Rey breathed in a shaky breath and nodded again. "I had a feeling you might say that."

She escorted her as far as the door that led to the tiny hangar, which was only a few feet away. Rey paused and glanced at the Stormtrooper, thinking for a moment before saying, "Sam."

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Rey smiled and shrugged. "S. A. Turn the 3 around. M. Sam. That's your name."

The corners of Sam's lips tilted upwards and she placed a hand on Rey's shoulder. "I like it. Thank you."

Leia looked even worse than before. Her skin was a sickly white colour and she was surrounded by bloody towels and rags as the gaping wound in her abdomen continued to bleed. Ben was kneeling by her side, clutching her hand tightly and Rey could feel his restraint against crying in front of her as she died, but could also see his shoulders shaking from the effort.

Rey felt her own eyes starting to sting as she walked over to her eyes side and met Leia's gaze.

"Are we safe?"

Those were the first words that left Leia's lips and the sound of her voice was heart wrenching. She was so quiet and wispy. If the blood or her skin was no indication of how hurt she was, then those strained words would easily give it away. Rey kneeled down and swallowed a lump in her throat, nodding instead of fighting with her own words.

Leia sighed in relief and glanced between them with glassy eyes. "I am glad. You two. You're amazing, you know? To be able to get us all out safely. I'm… I'm so proud."

From this angle, Rey could see tears beginning to stream down Ben's face as she stared down at his mother. She had seen him cry before, but had never seen him this heart broken. Sam had likely not told him what she told her, but he knew. Rey was sure he knew.

"The war is over." Leia continued with a weak smile on her lips. "Hopefully for good. And I have not only gotten my son back, but I've gained a wonderful daughter as well." She lifted a hand to Rey's cheek, and Rey bit back a sob. "I couldn't… be happier. You will make each other happy, I'm sure. I'm so unbelievably proud. Of both of you. This… I couldn't ask to die a better way. Surrounded by my family."

Ben's voice broke as he spoke. "Mom. _Please_. Don't go."

The hand he held left his grasp to touch his cheek and wipe a tear away. "Oh my son. I can't stay. You know that. I'm just… happy I lived long enough to see you again."

Rey reached across to grab his hand and clutched it tightly while Leia grasped their other hands.

Leia took a deep breath and her force contorted in pain for a second before she smiled again. "Ah, it's time to go see your father. And Luke. It will be good to see them again. The famous trio back together again." A wet cough wracked through her body and she turned her head to the side to expel the blood that left her throat. "Rey. Please. Tell Poe… I'm proud of him. Despite our arguments. I always… was fond of him."

She nodded and squeezed Leia's hand tightly. "I will."

The last few minutes of Leia's life were quiet. Stormtroopers stood in the room but didn't intervene on the three of them, letting the newly united family have their moment.

When Leia took her final breath, neither Rey nor Ben cried, but clutched each others hands tightly. It felt like the end of an era. So many stories had circled about the famous trio that defeated the Empire. Now, with Leia's death, all three had passed the torch onto a new generation. Onto Ben and Rey. Poe and Finn. They would all go their separate ways, but it was still up to them collectively to keep the peace.

Rey couldn't be sure how much time passed before Leia's hand started to feel cold in her own. When it did, she sighed and looked away from her peaceful face to glance up at Ben.

"Ben…"

"I'm going to stay. For a while." Ben took a deep breath and met her gaze with bloodshot eyes. He had been crying too silently for Rey to notice in her own grief. "You can go."

She sighed and stood, moving around to Leia's other side to sit next to Ben and lean into him. He shifted his position to wrap an arm around her shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere."

 **Poe**

The cruiser was a mass of chaos. Since losing contact with Rey and Ben, and watching the First Order ships explode into tiny pieces, anybody who was anybody on either side had joined together in the main hall to discuss what to do next.

It was, of course, not going well. Poe watched from the sidelines as both sides argued. The former First Order insisting on being heard and the former Resistance insisting that they had no say just yet.

The union between Light and Dark that Rey had wanted was not going smoothly at all.

Poe ran a hand down his face and groaned. "This is not going well."

"You got that right." Finn had positioned himself against the wall beside Poe, and was looking on with the same distaste as him. "If Rey was here, she'd be shouting at them to shut up and get along. Where do you think they went, anyway?"

He shrugged and pushed off from the wall he was leaning on. "No clue. But I guess that leaves the job to us."

Before Poe could even take a step, however, a former Resistance fighter spoke up from the centre of the room. "Excuse me? Excuse me!" The arguing was loud enough for the girl to have to shout to get anyones attention. "We have an incoming transmission from a nearby ship that's preparing to enter hyperspace."

Poe turned just in time to see the familiar shot of light that was someone going into hyperspace. Whoever it was, they were gone now.

Nobody answered at first, so Poe stepped forward. "Play it."

The blue hologram appeared in the centre of the room, and people moved aside to let everyone see. It was Rey.

Poe breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her alive and waited for her to speak, but she didn't at first. Rey took a minute to take a deep breath and stare at the ground before looking up. "I don't know where to start.

"We won. Not the Resistance. Not the First Order. _Us_. The Force and all who follow it. Which means, _hopefully,_ there are now former Resistance and First Order members on the cruiser and you are negotiating peace between you." Rey paused for a moment to glance around accusingly as if she could see them all.

She may have only been in charge for a while, but Rey had already made sure that people were worried about upsetting her. Poe could see people visibly stiffen.

"Which means that the Light and the Dark has finally come together, and my job is complete. We should be celebrating but… somehow I find that difficult. This war has lasted decades, and too many have died, on both sides. With that being said… Well there is no way to say this that will make it easier and less of a shock."

Once again, Rey paused to take a deep breath. "General Organa… has passed away." There was a collective gasp and a few sobs after a second. Poe stood and stared in shock. Leia… was dead?"

"She lived long enough to see us succeed, and died in the arms of her son. Leia's last wish was to ensure everyone knew how proud of them she was. Even the ones she had words with sometimes." That made Poe's eyes sting. Leia had had words with him, that was for sure.

Rey allowed them a second to grieve, and then continued on. "I will not be returning to you, I'm afraid. My job was to balance the force and I have done so. Now I must maintain that balance by rebuilding the Jedi order as my own. Meanwhile, it falls to you to decide where to take the Galaxy from here. There is no longer a Republic and while the war is over, the galaxy has been left in disarray. It falls to you, all of you, to rebuild it. However you wish. I will not interfere, but I will be watching. Good luck. And to all my friends… I…" Rey bit her lip and glanced around again as if trying to find them in the crowd. "I will miss you. You gave me a home when I thought I would never have one… We will meet again, I'm sure."

With that, the image of Rey flickered and disappeared, leaving the room shocked and silent.

It took them several minutes to find their voices again, and it was the Admiral who spoke up first. "Well, we should…"

"Start by establishing a leader." Poe interrupted the man before he could finish his sentence. "You won't get anywhere without one. One from each side. That way you can avoid any favouritism. Maybe even a council."

There were murmurs of agreement, then the girl from before spoke up. "Well in that case, I nominate you as the Resistance Leader, Poe."

Again people muttered their agreement, but Poe smiled and shook his head. "I'm flattered, but I have to decline. Politics were never my strong suit. The Admiral would be a good choice."

He nearly snorted when the man's chest puffed up proudly before a former Stormtrooper stepped forward. "Nell represented us before we left Hoth. She should be the First Order leader."

"Well if you haven't noticed." An unnamed Stormtrooper spoke up, still partially in his armour but missing the helmet. "She's missing."

"Did she die?"

"No." Finn shook his head and stepped forward. "Our group got separated after we rescued the 100. She went with Ky… with Ben to find Rey. Most likely she's with them."

Poe breathed a small sigh of relief at that. He had only met Nell briefly, but had quickly decided he liked her. They shared a lot of similarities. "Well then you'll have to pick someone else."

"Who though?"

"How about…"

Poe let the rest of the conversation drown in this thoughts as he turned to leave the room. They could figure it out amongst themselves. He was having thoughts similar to Rey. He had no place here.

"Hey, where are you going?" Poe felt someone grab his arm and turned to see Finn staring at him with his eyebrows furrowed. Chewbacca, who had been leaning against the doorway he was headed to, pushed off from the wall to stand on his other side.

He breathed a sigh and smiled. "Leia often said that I was a soldier at heart. Meant to fight wars to protect people. I think she was right. Only issue is, now I don't have a war to fight anymore. Which is great and all but… well I guess it's time to go find a new purpose. Somewhere else. I don't belong here anymore."

Finn released his arm and moved to face him next to Chewbacca, frowning all the way. "So what, you're just going to leave? Where will you go?"

Poe answered his question by turning his attention to the Wookie and holding out his hand. "You're in need of a new co-pilot, right? I guess you had hoped it would be Rey but… seeing as she's gone, how about me? I'm a decent flyer."

"Decent." Finn scoffed and rubbed his nose, causing Poe to grin in spite of his grief.

It was hard to tell amongst all the fur, but he could swear Chewbacca smiled as he grabbed his hand.

"Wait wait, if you two are leaving then I'm coming with you. I'm sure as hell no politician. And I'm pretty sure they're about to nominate me for something." Finn placed his hands on theirs and glanced around for approval, which Chewbacca soon gave in his typical way.

Finn pursed his lips and glanced at Poe. "Can you…?"

Poe let go of Chewbacca's hand and slapped Finn's back with a grin. "He says you can come. Come on then. Let's leave before they start arguing again."

Finn pursed his lips and glanced at Poe. "Can you…?"

Poe let go of Chewbacca's hand and slapped Finn's back with a grin. "He says you can come. Come on then. Let's leave before they start arguing again."

The three of them left promptly, eager to return to the Falcon and leave before anyone noticed, much like Rey did just a few moments before. BB-8 whizzed along behind them, as always remaining by Poe's side.

Safe was not a lifestyle Poe was used to living, so it was time to find danger somewhere else.

"Hey can you teach me Wookie? I swear I'm the only one who can't understand him."

 ** _A/N - Oh my god! It's done!_**

 ** _I can't believe it. I am so proud of this! I've had so many story ideas before and tried so many times to write them. This one... to be honest when I started it, I thought it would end up like all of the others. Left unfinished. But of course. Star Wars in the one that prevailed!_**

 ** _I do have some ideas for a sort of sequel, but the story isn't very fleshed out yet. If I do end up deciding to do it, I will post a little teaser as a sort of epilogue to this one ;)_**

 ** _Thank you so much for your support! And for putting up with my sporadic uploads._**

 ** _-Ash_**


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